Yesterday's Tomorrow's
by Darkpurplelighter
Summary: The summer has come to an end and a new school year begins. This time the gang learns that in life there are always new challenges, new relationships, and new beginnings. Sequel to 'These Are the Days of Our Lives.'
1. Hook, Line, and Sinker

XXXXXX

It was six in the morning. Every thing was peaceful and quiet as the birds started to come out and sing. The fresh morning dew was still clinging to the blades of grass that had settled during the night. But suddenly the quiet morning was interrupted by the annoying ringing of an alarm clock.

The birds suddenly flew away, the dew showered down to the ground, leaving the tiny blades of grass behind as if looking for a new world of excitement and adventure.

Inside the house of Bill and Rachel Curtis, Sodapop groaned and rolled over on the top bunk inside one of the spare bedrooms, burying his head underneath his pillows while Ponyboy got up and walked over to shut the alarm off.

"Hey Soda, wake up. Dad wants to get to the lake early."

"I don't want to go," his brother muttered.

"Get up."

Soda sighed deeply before finally managing to pull himself up and threw his legs over the bed, dropping down to the floor. He stumbled a little when he hit the ground, still groggy from being out late last night.

"I can't believe we have to spend some of our last week off here," he complained while getting dressed.

While he liked visiting his aunt and uncle, and getting the chance to see Mickey Mouse again, summer break was about to end, and school would start up again. He'd rather spend the next few days hanging out with Steve and Sandy, going to parties and things like that.

"Come on, Soda. This will be fun." Pony said as he put his shoes on. He'd never been on a fishing trip before, as it was something that Darry and Dad were into, he really had no interest in it, but was happy to be brought along this time around, as Darry would be leaving to go to college soon.

"Fun? A fishing trip? Sure if you think a whole day of sitting out in a lake inside a boat sticking hooks through little fish, and dropping them into the water just to catch bigger fish is fun."

"What have you got better to do?"

"Plenty."

"Like what?"

"I could be with Sandy right now, for one."

"I think that poor girl is happy to have some time away from you."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you saw what we were doing last night," Soda said as he raised an eyebrow and smirked.

Ponyboy rolled his eyes as he opened the door and headed downstairs. Soda soon followed and walked into the kitchen to see everyone else sitting at the table, eating breakfast.

"Hey, look who's up," Aunt Rachel greeted when she saw them while putting two more plates down. Soda forced a smile as he sat down next to Pony and began to eat.

"Excited, are we?" Darryl asked.

"What do you mean?" Soda responded.

"Well, you didn't have to be up for another forty-five minutes, but now we can leave as soon as we're all done eating. More time to fish."

Soda slowly turned his head to look at his younger brother with narrowed eyes. Ponyboy merely shrugged in return before starting to eat his eggs.

After they were all done the boys all grabbed the things they needed, and said goodbye to Linda and Rachel as they were staying back at the house.

"I'll bring you back a fish." Darryl promised as he kissed his wife.

"Gee thanks." Linda said.

Opening up the screen door, Soda walked out of the house and approached his Uncle's truck.

'God it's hot,' Soda thought to himself. Dad told them to bright hats or sunscreen, but being stubborn in his resentment of being brought out here, he ignored him. Now he was going to pay for it.

While the others were busy putting the tackle boxes, fishing poles, and other equipment into the trunk, Soda took the opportunity to launch himself into the front seat.

"I'm driving!" He declared cheerfully.

"No!" Everyone screamed in unison, but it was too late. He was already putting his seatbelt on and turning the keys in the ignition.

"Damn it," Darry muttered as he closed the trunk. His younger brother had gotten his license a few months ago, but Soda's driving was…scary. Ponyboy sat up with Soda in the front, while Darry sat squashed between his Dad and Uncle in the backseat.

"Just drive carefully Soda," Darryl said. "I've already been in one wreak, I don't need to be in another one."

"Don't worry about it."

When the doors were all closed, Soda stomped on the gas and began to drive. The lake was about a twenty minute drive from the house.

They got there in ten minutes.

After stopping, Soda leapt out of the car grinning while Ponyboy and Darry fell to the ground, whispering about how much they loved land. His Dad was shaking pale while his Uncle Bill was running around the truck, examining every new dint and scratch.

"So," Soda stretched his muscles lazily, "Shall we start fishing then?"

The other stared at him, speechless.

"Right. Right, I suppose…" Bill cast one final, pitiful glance at his truck, before getting out the equipment from the back.

When they got everything and every one was in the boat, Bill started up the motor and began driving the boat to a familiar place he knew of that was usually a good place to catch fish.

"That'll do it," he said to himself after a few minutes, and cut the motor. The sudden stop sent Ponyboy, the only person on his feet straight overboard and into the water. Soda busted out laughing while the others went to his aid.

Darryl and Bill each grabbed an arm and hauled him up, where Pony sat dripping, with his hair and clothes plastered to him.

"Well, it looks like we'll have to go back to the house, right?" Soda declared with a little too much enthusiasm.

"No, of course not. He'll dry in no time in this heat, and he's a tough little guy, right Pony?" Darryl said.

"I'm not little." Pony responded while shaking his head furiously, sending water everywhere.

"Atta boy," Darryl grinned, clearly not even listening to him. "Now let's get ready to do some fishing."

While everyone grabbed their pole, Pony took off his wet shirt revealing his new, lean physique he had gotten by going to the gym every day with Darry since summer started. Pony then handed his pole to Darry.

"Can you cast it for me?"

"Sure." He gave the pole a thrust and the liner reeled out gracefully and plunked into the water about five feet away. Darry handed the pole back to his youngest brother. "Keep the pole straight."

"Thanks."

Darry looked back at his other brother.

"Need help Soda?"

"I'm fine."

Darry nodded and grabbed his own pole.

"Is this a good spot Uncle Bill?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do good up here."

Minutes of sticking heat and silence passed between the five of them, the only noise was the sound of Soda flicking his pole in boredom. Suddenly, Ponyboy had a bite and then another, he swung his pole wildly and managed to hook a fish. He began to reel unevenly and ferociously, his face cringed as he struggled to hold onto it.

Darryl and Bill watched with bewilderment as Darry stood by Ponyboy's shoulder, encouraging him while offering tips about keeping the pole straight.

Ponyboy finally was able to pull in a small wriggling fish. He smiled a little when he saw how small it was and thought about how much of a fight he had to put up to reel it in.

"All right buddy, you got one," Soda said as the fish sucked in blank draughts of air.

Bill rubbed his chin as he looked at Pony's catch.

"That ain't nothing but a little baby fish."

"But it's pretty good ain't it, for my first fish?" Ponyboy asked.

Uncle Bill shrugged, paused, than looked over at Darryl.

"I remember my first fish. It was a big ol' catfish."

Darryl Sr. nodded.

"Yeah, it was probably three or four times the size of that one there."

He got up and took Pony's pole from him, taking the fish he caught and threw him into the cooler they brought. Darryl picked up a piece of shrimp they were using as bait and put it back on the hook.

"You want to try and cast it this time?"

"No," Pony shook his head. "You do it."

Darryl gave the pole a flick but overcommitted and the line spat into the water a mere foot from the boat. He began reeling back in a haste as if to cover his tracks, but it was too late as the others began to roar with laughter.

"Where did you learn to cast?"

"From my Dad. But this pole is different."

"Oh sure, blame the pole," Bill said.

"Shut up," Darryl laughed back.

The line suddenly went taut again and Darryl pulled his hand back as he yelled out in pain.

"Damn it!" He yelled as blood dripped from his fingertips.

"What the hell?" Darry asked as he picked up the fallen pole and it began to bend in a 'C' shape.

_Thump!_

Something struck the bottom of the boat, hard.

"What was that?" Soda asked while getting to his feet.

Neither Darryl nor Bill replied. They looked at each other in silence for a short moment both unmoving. Darry quickly began reeling in as the muscles in his arms strained.

Again there was a scratching and bumping sound from underneath the boat.

"What the hell is that?" Soda asked again. "Is it a shark or something?"

Ponyboy slowly turned his head, looking at his brother as if he was exceedingly stupid.

"Yeah, there are _sharks_ in lakes in Tulsa."

"There are? Oh shit, I don't want to get eaten! Let's go back!"

"Shut up!" They all yelled in unison.

Suddenly the tip of the pole eased out and began pointing out to the open water again.

"Keep the line tight," Bill said.

"I know," Darry answered.

The water suddenly splashed in the distance as the line came to the surface of the water. The end of the pole bended radically to the right as the line began moving at a great speed. The reel jerked hard as Darry fought to keep reeling it in.

"Pull him in Darry," he heard his Dad say. "Pull hard."

Another splash could be heard off to the side of the boat and a spray of water hit Sodapop and Ponyboy as a tail broke through the surface of the water.

"Did you guys see that?" Pony asked. "That thing is really big."

Darry continued straining with the pole. He face was starting to sweat and his teeth were tightly clenched. He was a little shocked by this, with the strength he had from working out over the years, Darry figured he'd be able to pull any fish in with ease, but this one was putting up one hell of a fight.

"Christ, this thing is strong."

"You're doing just fine Darry," Bill encouraged. "Keep it up."

The tip of the rod suddenly went slack again.

"It's coming at us again," Darryl said. "Real it in Darry, reel fast. Don't let it get too loose or it will try to snap the line."

"I'm trying."

The line got tight once more and the tip of the pole bent so hard, so quick that Darry nearly lost his grip on it.

"Now what?" Darry said to no one.

"He's diving down," Bill answered while studying the water as he leaned over the side of the boat.

Darry then pulled hard on the handle and reeled in the line. His hands were turning red from fighting with the pole. He mumbled some obscenities under his breath and he tugged again. There was a sudden loud 'thump' on the bottom of the boat again, and Darry began to reel like a madman as the thing at the end of the line seemed to not be putting up much of a fight now.

Ponyboy was going from one side of the boat to the other, anxiously looking into the water.

"Where did it go? It's got to be close right?"

No one answered him and after a few moments, something finally broke the surface a short distance from the boat. They were able to make out the scaly form of a great fish.

"There it is Darry!" Bill called out as the tail came within arms reach if the side of the boat.

He leaned over and grabbed the line and began pulling it along. After a moment he looked to the water and back at Darry.

"Okay, I'll pull on the line to get him up onto the boat. Darryl, Soda, you two reach in and grab it and get a good hold of him. Then all three of us will pull in on board. Got it?"

Soda looked at his Uncle as through he had just grown another head on his shoulders.

"Are you crazy? Reach into the water? Grab it and pull it out? That's your idea?"

"I'm kinda with Sodapop on this one bro," Darryl added.

"Do you have a better idea?"

Soda exchanged glances with his Dad and shrugged their shoulders at each other. They turned back to Bill.

"On three then?"

Bill steadied himself then motioned for the other two to get into position. Darryl got onto his knees and leaned down. They both reached out at the scaly body, getting a hold of it and began tugging the fish in.

"One…two…three…"

The dark green scaled form began slipping away from Darryl, he pulled harder while yelling out some curse words about it not getting away. The tail fin flipped up which sprayed water on them all. Soda reached out and grabbed a hold and tugged at it. Bill grasped the tail fin, pulling for all he was worth.

"Pull!"

With one final heave they all fell backwards as the water splashed over the edge hitting them all in the face. Soda rolled onto his back, yelling something about being 'bitten' while Ponyboy laughed at him.

The five of them gathered around Darry's catch. The wide tail was fanned out on the boat and it's dark green scales on it's lower half glittered like fine emeralds. The belly was pale yellow and its head was broadly flattened with a projecting lower jaw.

"What kind of fish is it?" Ponyboy asked.

"I'm not sure, some kind of catfish," his Dad answered.

"That's the biggest damn fish I've ever seen." Darry said.

"Yeah," Bill agreed. "We'll take it back to the house and cut it up. Food for a week."

Soda looked up at his Uncle with his face twisted with disgust.

"Food?"


	2. Mid Life Crisis

XXXXXX

Later on that day, the Curtis men had stopped fishing and were back on land, now eating food they brought with them. Although it was a lot cooler out now as the wind was lightly starting to blow it was still torture to Sodapop as he tried to drown out whatever his uncle was saying.

"This is what it's about," Bill said as he finished up eating as he sat next to his nephew's. "The fresh air, the bonding…"

Soda sighed as he blocked out whatever his Uncle was saying.

"We really should go home." He said to himself once Bill finished and got up.

Ponyboy looked over at Soda and glared at him.

"Not this again."

"Why can't we just go back to the house?"

"I don't know, but you're annoying the hell out of everyone."

"Well sorry," Soda remarked sarcastically.

He then looked over and saw his Uncle setting up three tents in the distance.

"Are you kidding me? We're actually spending the night out here?"

"I guess so."

Soda looked back over at his younger brother.

"Pony, please tell me you brought your cigarettes."

"Yeah…what do you want them for?" He asked while taking them out.

"You'll see."

Meanwhile, Darry was standing by with Dad at the lake, skipping stones into the water. They were just standing quietly for a few minutes before Mr. Curtis broke the silence.

"So, are you ready for this?"

"What do you mean?" Darry asked.

"You know…going off to college. Leaving home?"

He looked over at his Dad for a second before throwing another stone into the lake.

"Yeah, I'm going to be fine."

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a yell.

"Darry! Dad! Your tent is on fire!"

They both spun around after they heard Soda yell and saw that one of the tents was in flames. Both ran over and stomped on it, trying to put it out while Bill dumped water on it from a pale.

When it was finally out, the tent that Bill had set up for himself and Darryl was now completely ruined. Darry looked at both his Dad and Uncle and sighed.

Now they only had two tents which wasn't enough for the five of them.

"Well, shit," Bill sighed.

XXXXXX

Opening up his eyes for the first time today, Two-Bit stretched his lanky frame cross the length of his bed as he yawned loudly, his auburn hair was messy and in his eyes. He threw the covers off himself and sat up, his socked feet resting on the carpet of his room.

He moved his neck around and finally pushed himself up, and as he did one of his knees cracked.

'I feel so old,' he thought to himself as he rubbed his eyes and made his way to the kitchen. Two-Bit couldn't believe that he had turned twenty over the summer. His days as a teenager were now over. Not only that, but since he managed to graduate from high school, he couldn't go back this year. That was the worst part of everything.

Two-Bit got out a bowl and began pouring cereal into it before sitting down at the kitchen table. Just then, he heard the sound of the front door open and his mother walked into the house.

"Hi mom," he greeted when she walked into the kitchen. "Why are back from work so soon, you forget something?"

"Keith, it's four thirty in the afternoon."

Two-Bit raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Really?"

"Have you even done anything at all today?"

"Yeah...I got up to get cereal."

His mother shook her head and then sat a newspaper on the table, pushing it in front of him.

"What's this?"

"The help wanted section."

_Oh no._

He swallowed nervously several times as he instantly knew what this was about. After school ended Two-Bit was able to convince his Mom that he would look for work when summer was over. Now that summer was coming to an end, she apparently remembered his promise.

"Oh no…no, no, no, no, no."

Margaret sighed in frustration.

"No what?"

"I can't work." Two-Bit pleaded.

"Why not?"

"I've…I've been having a health problem lately."

"Join the club." Margaret sighed. "What's wrong with you?"

"Well, when I start walking around, I feel very light headed, and if I'm driving, if I look to my left or right very quick, it's like everything goes in slow motion."

His Mom rolled her eyes as her son continued.

"And when I go into the shower…I feel very wet. I feel water sensation on my head, on my back…and on my neck."

"It could be the water coming out," Margaret said, pretending to think. "But I'm not sure."

"Thanks for caring."

"Come on Keith, I let you enjoy the summer, now it's time for you to get a job. You can't just lay around being a bum your whole life."

"Why not?"

"Keith," she said more sternly and Two-Bit looked down at the table upon hearing the sound of her tone, knowing she was serious about this. "My birthday is coming up. Do you know what your present to me is?"

"What?"

"To get a job."

"Can't I get you a bottle of perfume instead?" He muttered to himself after she left the kitchen.

Two-Bit then let out a heavy sigh and folded his arms on the table, placing his head down.

"My life is falling apart."

After getting done with eating, Two-Bit left his house and headed over to Buck Merrill's place to look for Dally. The whole way there, he thought about his situation. He didn't understand why he needed a job. He didn't need money, anytime he wanted something he just stole it...of course his mother didn't know that. And he didn't pay bills or for food. He figured as long as his Mom had a job he'd be fine.

Upon reaching his destination, he walked through the front door and saw Buck behind the bar, wiping the counter down with a wet cloth.

"Hey Buck."

Buck looked up when he heard his voice.

"Hey Two-Bit, what brings you here?"

"I'm just looking for Dally, is he around?" He responded in a low, depressed voice.

"What's with you? You look kinda down." Buck asked, a little surprised to see him like this. Two-Bit was always in a good mood whenever he saw him.

Two-Bit shrugged.

"I have to look for a job."

Buck raised an eyebrow.

"Come again? Why are _you_ looking for a job?"

"Because my mom is making me."


	3. Painful Reminders

XXXXXX

Two-Bit continued to glare at the older man as he clutched his aching stomach from laughing so hard.

"So you have to find a job?" Buck finally managed to say as he got a hold of himself. "Well, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know, I've never thought about getting a job before…something that involves a lot of sitting down I guess." Two-Bit responded.

"Well, I'm afraid I don't know anybody hiring for that kind of work. Dally's upstairs, first door on the right."

Two-Bit nodded and headed up the stairs. As he made his way to the second floor, Dally was just waking up from a long night playing poker last night and cleaning Tim Shepard out. He always had good luck at playing cards, and picked up a couple of tricks on how to cheat from Sodapop. Suddenly, someone knocked on his door.

"Dally, are you awake?"

He groaned a little when he heard Two-Bit's voice. He quickly layed back down on the bed, pretending to be asleep. Dally already had a slight headache, and dealing with Two-Bit would only make it worse.

When nobody answered, Two-Bit slowly opened the door up to see his friend still in bed. He silently made his way into the room, thinking of a way to wake him up when he noticed Dally's wallet on the night stand. As he picked it up, one of Dally's eyes opened.

"Hey!" Dally yelled causing the wallet to fly out of Two-Bit's hands and he looked down at him in surprise. "What the hell are you doing!"

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was pretending so I wouldn't have to talk to you."

Two-Bit's mouth opened slightly, as he looked a little offended by that.

"Well, it doesn't get lower than that."

Dally glared up at him.

"Apparently, it does."

"My mom's birthday is coming up Dally," Two-Bit sighed. "Do you expect me to steal money from her, to buy her own gift? I will not do that again."

"Why don't you just steal a bottle of perfume like you did last year?"

Two-Bit didn't answer as he picked Dally's wallet up from the floor and set it back down on the nightstand. As he had it in his hands, he noticed fifty and twenty dollar bills sticking out. He shook his head.

"How do you always have money? You don't even have a job."

"None of your damn business," Dally grumbled as he got up.

As Two-Bit and Dally continued talking, Tim Shepard walked through the front door of Buck Merrill's place.

"Hey Buck, is Dally here?"

"Depends," Buck sighed. "What do you want him for?"

"He owes me some money," Tim responded.

"Oh yeah? I heard that he whooped your ass in a card game the other night."

"That's right, I did. I don't owe you shit Shepard," came Dally's voice as he walked down the steps while putting on his shirt, Two-Bit right behind him.

"Oh yeah you do."

"I won it fair and square last night."

"Bullshit, you were probably cheating your ass off. Nobody can get a royal flush that often without something being up. Now hand it over, I need it."

"You lost your money, and if you keep this up you'll lose something else."

Thinking that he was just going to let this go, Dally let his guard down and was prepared to open the front door and step out, when he was tackled from behind, Tim and him landing hard on the ground outside.

Dally shoved himself up and grabbed Tim's jacket, slamming him down and knocking the wind right out of him before punching him in the jaw.

"Here we go," Two-Bit grinned as he stepped outside and continued to watch the two "friends" go at it.

Upon hearing the sounds of the carrying on outside, Buck came out to see the greasers fighting each other and rubbed his eyes, apparently he had seen this before and was a little tired of it.

"Hey Buck, can you go get me a beer?" Two-Bit asked.

However, Buck ignored him and ran down the steps to put a stop to the fight.

XXXXXX

It was August again, the twenty eighth to be exact. Two days until Johnny Cade's sixteenth birthday. Although there wasn't much to celebrate.

Yes, moving to Tulsa last year turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he was lucky enough to meet people who accepted him and took him in to their 'gang' as they called it, but his life at home was still a nightmare.

His parents hated each other, and they argued all the time over everything. Sometimes their shouting matches were so loud they probably could be heard from the Mathew's house, far down the street. Fortunately, no one every asked him about it, they probably knew it was a tough subject for him.

Johnny wished that things were different, that he had better parents. He knew his mother cared, but she worked all the time and when she wasn't at work she was out doing god knows what. It had always been like that, she never had any time for him. He barely had any memories of her from growing up.

His father, Francis Cade on the other hand paid him plenty of attention, but not the good kind of attention. Whenever he would get so mad at his Mom, if he didn't hit her, he would usually hit him instead. What made these two want to get married and have a child in the first place was anyone's guess.

Johnny's Dad was also an alcoholic which made things worse.

Folding his arms behind his head, Johnny layed on his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

_He thought he shut his eyes for just a moment, but he must have fallen asleep. Johnny didn't sleep well last night because his parents had yet another argument and he layed awake in fear that his Dad might come in his room and start yelling at him, or even hit him. _

_Johnny had his homework from school in front of him, but he didn't have much time to think about that has the bedroom door flew open and his father loomed over him. _

_"What the hell were you thinking?" Frank shouted, the magnitude of his voice making the walls rumble. _

_"Wha…what do you mean?" Johnny asked, nervously. _

_"You know damn well what I mean, you useless piece of shit!" His Dad reached down and grabbed Johnny's arm, yanking him upright. Johnny thought he may have heard his arm crack as he was dragged into the kitchen. Frank then pointed to the garbage can which was overflowing with trash._

_"Didn't I tell you to take out the trash?"_

_"Um...yes."_

_"So why didn't you do it?"_

_Johnny swallowed nervously._

_"I fell asleep."_

_His father glared down at him before bringing his hand up and smacking him on the back of the head, hard._

_"You stupid little shit, when I tell you to do something, you do it right away!"_

_"Sorry, Dad," Johnny muttered quietly while rubbing his head, hoping he didn't get hit again. _

_"Just take out the garbage! And hurry up because I've got some more work for you!" _

'Bang!'

Johnny quickly sat up when the front door open. He got to his feet and went over to his door, carefully placing his ear next to it, listening to hear if it was his Mom or Dad who came in.

"Where the hell's my bottle opener!" He finally heard his Dad yell.

He sighed heavily when he heard his Dad. From the sound of his voice he could tell he was in a bad mood…well, he always in a bad mood, but if he was looking for a bottle opener that could only mean one thing. And it meant bad news for Johnny after his old man threw down a couple of beers.

Going over to his window, he opened it up and crawled though it. By now, Johnny had learned enough tricks to avoid seeing his Dad whenever he possibly could.


	4. Rodeo Rider

XXXXXX

While Johnny was making his escape, Dally was walking down the sidewalk, cursing to himself silently as he rubbed his jaw which was now beginning to bruise.

He was on his way to sign up for the rodeo in town, just coming from his fight with Shepard. Buck broke it up before it go too serious, but they managed to land some heavy shots on each other, and Dally knew he hadn't seen the last of old Tim.

It wasn't long before he reached the rodeo's parking lot, and went in to the arena to sign up for this weekend's grand opening.

"Name and event, please?" the man behind the check in counter asked him.

"Dallas Winston, bull riding."

The man nodded and wrote his name down before handing him a vest and number.

"Thank you. Show up at eight o'clock tonight to draw your bull."

Dally nodded and turned to leave.

After he walked out of the arena, Dally realized he didn't have any cancer sticks on him so he decided to go to the DX gas station and pick up a pack. When he got closer to the store, in the distance, he was a little surprised to see Johnny standing outside of it with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hey kid," Dally greeted when he stepped up in front of him. "What are you doin' here?"

"Nothing," Johnny muttered while looking at his shoes. "Just…getting some air."

"Oh yeah? For me, just the opposite."

After he said that Dally walked into the store. The casher looked up when he heard the bell ring but then went back to helping a customer after he saw Dally. Taking advantage of his distraction, Dally placed a couple of packs of cigarettes into his back pocket before turning and walking back out the store.

Back outside, Dally took out a cigarette and lit one up.

"Want one?" He asked Johnny.

"I don't smoke."

Dally nodded as he blew out a ring of smoke.

"So, how are you spending your last few days of summer?"

"I've been kinda bored lately." Johnny shrugged. "I'm just waiting for Ponyboy to come home."

"Oh yeah, they're still away aren't they?" Dally realized. "Well if you don't have anything to do, why don't you come with me tonight? I'm bull riding."

"Bull riding? Isn't that dangerous?"

Dally shrugged.

"Yeah, so what?"

Sure there were a lot of risks in bull riding, but Dally loved it. He only started doing it last year, and after he did it he was hooked. For him, if there was no danger there was no reason for breathing.

"Well...um," Johnny began.

"Do you want to come or not?"

"Sure."

"Alright, meet me here at seven thirty."

XXXXXX

Johnny had stayed at Two-Bit's house for the rest of the day but continued watching the clock until it was time for him to get going. He didn't bother telling Two-Bit about it as he left the house and walked back to the gas station, meeting up with Dally at the correct time.

The two of them then walked to the arena that was holding the rodeo this year. Rodeo…the sheer pounding of testosterone driven determination lured him back every time.

"Johnny over here, I need to draw my bull over here," Dally said after they walked in and saw where all the other riders were going. Johnny nodded and stood outside as Dally entered a room with the other guys. A few seconds later they all came out, each carrying a slip of paper in their hand.

Dally walked back over to Johnny but suddenly almost ran into a man wearing a black cowboy hat.

"Hey Dally!" Buck grinned. "I thought I'd see you here. Which bull did you get?"

"I don't care. It doesn't matter to me what the damn thing's name is."

Buck shook his head and took the paper from Dally. He looked it over and grimaced, slowly looking back up at his friend and handed the paper back to him.

"Bad luck for you buddy. Someone up there must not like you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Let's just say that you've got your work cut out for you tonight old buddy. Trahern is one of the most dangerous and difficult bulls on the circuit."

"Trahern?" Dally laughed. "What kind of stupid ass name is that?"

"It means, 'strong as iron.'"

"I'm shaking." He remarked sarcastically.

"You should be." Buck smirked before turning and walking away.

Some girl then came out in the middle of the arena and sang the national anthem before the real stuff started.

The barrel racers came first, followed by the saddle broncs riding. Johnny watched in amazement as the man riding it fought to stay on the back of the wildly bucking horse. After he was tossed off he turned to Dally.

"Hey Dally, why don't you do that instead? I think it would safer than riding a bull."

Dally shook his head.

"Saddle broncs are for pussies."

After a couple of other guys rode, the saddle broncs riding came to an end, and the long anticipated bull riding began. The crowd of spectators rose to their feet with the excitement as the first rider got ready. They opened the door and Dally and Johnny watched as the first guy was flung far off the bull he was riding in mere two seconds before running to safety as fast as he possibly could.

The crowd exploded as the gate was slammed open for a second time and the bull emerged bucking hard from the get-go.

The next guy rode his bull for four seconds before being bucked off, slamming face first into the ground. A gasp went up from the on lookers as the bull charged at the fallen rider before the rodeo clowns were able to get the beast's attention giving the man enough time to get to get over the fence.

Dally didn't even pay attention to the next guy as he zipped up his vest and took a deep breath. He looked up in time to see the rider had finally fallen off the bull, making it up to eight seconds.

"Well, looks like I'm up next." He said out loud.

"Are you sure about this?" Johnny asked, looking nervous.

Dally couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Don't worry kid, ain't nothin' gonna happen."

"Good luck."

"Don't need it."

Dally walked towards the wooden corral the bull, 'Trahern' was being placed in. He was a little nervous, he knew that, but he wasn't scared as he handed one of the guys his number and threw himself over the wooden door, positioning himself above the beast roaring and kicking below him.

The bull yelled in anger, kicking even more wildly now, as if sensing Dally hovering above him. Sweat beaded from Dally's forehead as he remembered his last time on one of these things.

"And now for our next contestant, Dallas Winston!" The announcer yelled, and the cue was given for the doors to be opened.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins as Dally tightened his hold on the bull's reins so tight his knuckles began to turn white. Then all at once, the beast below him pushed himself out, bucking and jumping, kicking at the air.

Dally felt every muscle on the bull's hard back buck underneath him, fighting to fling him off. The air was hitting him from every direction as the bull bucked and flung wildly. The crowd was cheering their heads off as Dally fought to hang on for as long as he possibly could, knowing the time he had to beat was eight seconds…it couldn't be much longer before he surpassed it.

The speed was intoxicating, and every time the rush of being so close to being tossed off came over him…there was nothing else like it. Nothing in the world could compare to it.

It was dangerous…it was exciting…it was rodeo.

Back in the crowd, Johnny was watching with a mixture of excitement and nervousness as he watched his friend struggling to hang on the beast he was riding. After another couple of bucks, Dally had now managed to stay on for twelve seconds.

Trahern then twisted it's body to the left, throwing his legs out to increase his momentum. Bucking violently, this time perfectly, Dally finally lost his balance and whipped over the animal's side, plummeting forward and hitting the ground.

He saw men come down off the fences, each carrying bull ropes and restrains as they each tried to get the animal's attention.

Dally at first wondered how long he managed to stay on, but that thought immediately left his mind when bull turned and charged towards him.

"Oh shit!"

He tried to roll away, but it only seemed to anger the bull further was it continued to come after him. Dirt and mud clogged his nose as he scrambled backwards before he was hit with such a force it sent him flying backwards.

The pain didn't register until he finally managed to get over the fence, a stinging sensation going through his body, where ever the bull must have gotten him.

People ran over to him and caught Dally just before he passed out.


	5. Emergency Room

XXXXXX

Everything was shimmering before his eyes, like being in an intense heat. Dally suddenly became aware of a bitter, metallic taste in his mouth. It was blood.

When his sight cleared Dally raised his head to look up into the stands. The crowd was on its feet, some people had their hands clamped over their mouths in horror and shock. Dally rolled over to see Trahern behind the fence, pawing at it, his mean eyes fixed on him.

The rodeo clowns danced about, trying to distract the bull so the rodeo medics could get in the arena. Dally glared at the bull and was able to push himself up enough to snatch a guy's beer bottle from his hand and threw it at the animal. When it broke upon contact with the fence, it only made the animal even madder.

An older man with grey hair then ran over to where Dally was lying.

"Don't move son," said the medic as he knelt down beside him. The medic unzipped Dally's vest, feeling his sides for any broken ribs. "It's okay, I think the vest caught it-"

"Don't jerk me around, doc," Dally growled. "Tell me what the fuck hurts."

"You may have some internal injuries," he said while gently prodding his stomach. "Stay put, I gotta get the ambulance." The medic looked up at another guy. "Dutch, keep an eye on him. Don't let him go into shock."

The guy the medic called Dutch knelt down in the dirt next to Dally, he grabbed onto his arm tightly, hoping that it might ease the pain.

"Take it easy buddy," said Dutch. "You're gonna be fine."

"It fucking hurts," Dally growled again. He always knew the dangers of bull riding, but never once thought that this might happen to him. Just then he remembered Johnny was around here somewhere, but couldn't see him because of the people that had crowded around.

"Just stay with us. Keep talking."

Footsteps then began running towards them.

"The ambulance is here."

The paramedics placed Dally on a gurney and wheeled him out of the arena to the ambulance. Once they got Trahern under control, the announcer then walked out into the middle of the arena, got on the microphone and asked the audience to go home tonight and offer a prayer for recovery for the wounded bull rider.

On the way to the hospital inside the ambulance, Dally continued to drift in and out of consciousness. Memories of being back at New York when he was kid started coming back to him for some reason.

_Dally glanced at the clock on the wall that read __six o'clock__ in the morning, a time he sure hating having to being up. Suddenly his Dad came storming into the room._

_"Get dressed and meet me outside in five minutes." Mr. Winston demanded. "And don't screw around because I'm really not in the mood."_

_Dally sighed and went to his room, and begin searching for clothes to wear. Finally he found an old pair of blue jeans and pulled on a dirty white shirt before pulling on his shoes and rushing outside to his Dad's waiting car, opening up the door and getting inside. _

_"You look terrible, __Dallas__." Mr. Winston remarked when he saw his son and began to drive. "When I said get ready, I meant put some clean clothes on, not raid your floor to find the most disgusting thing you own."_

_Dally rolled his eyes but didn't respond. His Dad was driving him to school today, because he had skipped so many times, he decided to drive him from now on to make sure Dally went. _

_"If you don't shape up __Dallas__, one of these days you're going to get yourself into a lot of trouble." _

_"Yeah whatever." He finally said._

_"Hey, don't smart mouth me boy." His dad warned. "You don't think I see the kind of kids that you hang out with? One of these days I know I'm gonna get the call to come bail you out of jail, and yes they would arrest a kid even your age."_

_"I ain't gonna get send to jail." Dally responded._

_The conversation finally came to an end as Mr. Winston stopped at the front entrance of the school._

_"I'll be back here when school ends to pick you up."_

_"Why can't I just-"_

_"No, Dallas. Now run along, I'm gonna be late for work."_

XXXXXXXX

Sometime later, Dally woke up inside of a hospital room…oddly no longer feeling any pain. He remembering thinking about his Dad driving him to school...he wondered why that came to his mind when he was in the ambulance of all things. His parent's had seen him in god knows how long. He looked around and saw a nurse in the room, writing something down on a clipboard.

"How bad is it?" He asked, making the nurse jump in surprise.

"Mr. Winston, you're awake," she smiled as she looked over at him. "Well, you suffered a concussion and have several cracked ribs. And you were bleeding internally from abdominal trauma."

"Great." Dally muttered bitterly. "It's gonna kill me isn't it? That fuckin' bull."

"Actually, you're very lucky. We managed to stop the bleeding without surgery, which is very tricky. You're going to be fine." She then looked over at the door. "Your friends outside will be glad you came around so quickly. Would you like to see them?"

Friends?

Dally sighed. With the way his luck had been going tonight it was probably the Shepard gang, come to finish him off. Or mock him for getting gored by a damn bull.

"Sure."

He closed his eyes and heard the sound of high heels clicking against the floor as the nurse walked out of the room. A second later, the door opened back up and someone came inside. Dally's could hear the sound of their breathing as the person walked closer to the bed.

"You know, you could of died you dumb bastard." Buck Merrill's sarcastic voice reached Dally's ears, irritating him instantly.

"Nice to see you too." Dally muttered while opening his eyes. He couldn't help it, but a slight grin came over his face when he saw him.

"So, what'd they say? How long do you have left?"

"Not long, maybe another two or three days."

"That's too bad."

Dally nodded in agreement.

"Good news Dally. You stayed on your bull the longest, so you won the prize money." Buck said while pulling out an envelope of money from his jacket pocket and placed it on the table next to his bed. "Congratulations, buddy."

"Great, I can use it to pay my hospital bill."

"You pay a bill? That'll be the day."

They both laughed a little before Dally cursed when it hurt his ribs.

"Hey, do you have any cigarettes on you?" He asked.

"I don't think you should be smoking in your condition."

"You'd deny someone who's dying the right to smoke?"

Buck shook his head and placed a pack of cigarettes down next to the envelope on the table. He was about to turn around and leave when he remembered something.

"Oh yeah, this kid came with me, said he knows you. I didn't believe it but he was pretty insistent so I brought him anyway. Want me to send him in?"

Dally nodded.

A few seconds later, the door opened again and Johnny slowly walked in, one of his hands shoved in his pockets as he stared at the floor. Dally smirked a little at the kid's nervousness.

"Hey kiddo."

"Hey." Johnny responded, so quiet Dally barely heard him.

"It's okay, I'm not dead."

Johnny smiled as he looked up.

"So...how are you feeling?" He asked, knowing it was a stupid question but he didn't know what else to say.

"Horrible." Dally answered. "But I'm still alive, so I guess I can't complain."

"So…I suppose you'll ride the saddle broncs next time."

"No way. Like I said, saddle broncs are for pussies."

"Yeah," Johnny grinned. "That was kinda tuff…the whole bull riding. I've never seen anything like that before."

Dally grinned. He had never heard Johnny use the word 'tuff' before. The gang was really starting to rub off on him. Before either of them could say anything else, the nurse stuck her head in the door and looked at Johnny.

"I'm sorry young man, but visiting hours are now over."

"It's okay," Dally said to him.

"You want me to tell the others you're here?"

"No, let's just keep this between us." The last thing he needed was for Two-Bit to find out about this. He'd never hear the end of it.

Johnny nodded.

"Okay."

After Johnny left the room and the door closed behind him, Dally shut his eyes to get some sleep, as this long night came to an end.


	6. Leave the Memories Alone

XXXXXX

After finishing up eating dinner and excusing himself from the table, Sodapop walked up the stairs but instead of going into his room and throwing himself down on his bed like he intended, he absentmindedly found himself walking into Darry's room.

He looked around, seeing the room was now bare. Poster that had been on the wall had been taking down, his closet that held his clothes was now empty, two suitcases were sitting on the bed. It now was really starting to hit Soda...Darry was leaving.

Thinking back to that fishing trip they just got back from, he shouldn't have complained the whole time. Soda could have kicked himself for that. He should of realized that Dad took them all on it because it would be the last time they were all together for a little while.

Of course he knew he would see him again, but just seeing his room like this now, and knowing Darry was about to leave for college made him realize that the two of them really hadn't done much together over the past few years.

They use to be together all the time when they were little, but when Ponyboy came around and started getting bigger, and Soda entered junior high and began hanging out with Steve more and more, it seemed like Darry and him started drifting apart.

In fact, he couldn't even think of the last thing just him and Darry did together with none of the others around.

Looking up at the ceiling, Soda took a deep breath, knowing it was far too late now.

"Hey little man," Darry's voice startled him and he turned around to see his older brother in the doorway. "What are you doing in here?"

Soda shrugged.

"Nothing...I was just seeing…do you need any help packing?"

"No, I got everything."

Darry walked into the room and opened one of the suitcases a little, placing some things he had gotten from the bathroom in it. He then looked back at his brother and noticed he looked a little depressed.

"What's wrong?"

Soda shook his head.

"Nothing…it's just that, you're leaving now and I just…I wished we hung out a little more last year. You know, go to parties and things like that."

"Well, I'm not really much of a party guy."

"I guess we could have tortured Ponyboy a bit more."

Darry smiled.

"I'm definitely going to miss that."

Soda smiled back and nodded as he looked at the ground. He really was going to miss him not being around. Darry took a quick look at his watch, seeing that they didn't need to be at the airport for another forty-five minutes.

"Hey, what'd you say we have one last football game? Us and the gang?"

"I'd be up for that."

"Call Steve and Two-Bit, tell them to get over here as quick as they can. I'll tell Pony to find Johnny and Dally."

After about five minutes went by, Steve and Two-Bit arrived at the house while Pony found Johnny hanging out by the bowling alley. When he asked where Dally was Johnny told Pony that Dally had a hangover, remembering his promise not to tell the gang about him getting gored at the rodeo. When they were all together, Darry grabbed the football and they exited the house.

When they reached the field, Darry and Sodapop decided they would be team captains. Darry flipped a coin to see who had first pick, it landed on heads, so Soda was to pick first.

"I call Steve!"

"I call Pony!"

"Two-Bit!"

"Johnny!"

When the teams were finished being picked out, they all ran off into the middle of the open field.

"Ready…" Steve grunted, crouching down to hold the football to the ground. Everyone else huddled around, crouching down just like him, warning each other with their eyes.

"2…22…hike!" He hollered, and suddenly all six of them began stampeding towards each other. The ball went flying in the air, and each of them jumped up for it before Soda finally caught it and began running as fast as he could down to the end of the field.

Ponyboy was able to dodge Two-Bit and being the fastest runner, he was able to catch up to his brother in no time. Soda looked back and saw him, a surprised but challenging smile came across his face, and Pony began to run even faster.

Reaching…

Reaching…

And finally was able to tackle Soda to the ground, hard, leaving him laying prone and motionless.

"Soda? Are you dead?" Two-Bit asked when he came over and looked down at him.

Soda sat up and spit out grass, his body now covered with dirt.

"That was a hell of a tackle, Pony." Darry complimented as he helped him up. "You should try out for football this year instead of track."

"Yeah, yeah," Sodapop muttered.

Everyone got back in their positions.

"Hike!" Darry shouted, throwing the ball to Pony who jumped and caught it perfectly, in mid-air. Ponyboy then turned and chucked the ball at Johnny, who reached out his hands grasping wildly at the air until it landed in his hands.

Johnny ran down the field, with Steve running after him but was a pretty good distance away from him. Just before Johnny was about to make a touchdown he was knocked down to the ground and the ball went flying from his hands.

"Gotcha." Two-Bit smirked down at him before helping him up.

For the next play, Steve hiked the ball and passed it Sodapop, who then tossed it to Two-Bit. He ran up the field, able to dodge Johnny while Steve blocked Ponyboy but before he could run pass the end zone, Darry tackled him and wrestled him to the ground.

Steve hiked the ball next and tossed it to Soda but Ponyboy managed to intercept the ball and began running down the field before he was tackled by Two-Bit. The ball went flying out of his hands and Darry managed to catch it but only after taking a few steps he was tackled by both Sodapop and Steve, who wrestled him down the ground.

"Too slow, muscles." Steve smirked. Darry couldn't help but smile a little too as he got back to his feet. No one had called by that nickname in years.

When it was his team's turn, Ponyboy snapped the ball, turns to the right and tossed the ball to Darry who began running towards the left sideline. He sprinted straight at Two-Bit, who begins to run straight at him in return. The two of them collided like trains, the force knocked Darry off balance but before he fell to the ground, he was able to toss the ball back to Pony.

Just as Pony caught it, Sodapop grabbed his shirt and tried to pull him to the ground but he managed to spin out of his grip and Soda crashed to the ground. Ponyboy began running down to the end zone, Steve tried to tackle his legs but Ponyboy jumped into the air, making him miss and finally reached the end of the field, scoring the first touchdown of the game.

When it was their ball again, Two-Bit, Steve, and Soda huddled up and tried to form a plan. After getting done, everyone got into position.

"Hike!" Two-Bit yelled.

Steve managed to dodge Darry as he caught the ball and began running. When Johnny was coming after him, he threw the ball to Soda but Ponyboy intercepted it, spun around and began running as fast as he could down to the end zone while the Steve yelled and cursed after him.

Darry smiled after he saw his youngest brother score another touchdown, but then remembered his had a flight to catch and looked down at his watch. It was almost time for him to go and his parents were going to be looking for them.

"Alright guys, this was fun but I've got to go now."

"Ah, come on Darry," Two-Bit complained. "We've only been playing for ten minutes. Our team needs to get a chance to get even."

"I know, but I've got to go," Darry responded while approaching his friend and hugged him. "I'm gonna miss you buddy."

"I'm gonna miss you too," Two-Bit said while hugging him back. "Have a good trip."

"Thanks, and make sure you get a job."

"I'll try as hard as I can not to."

Darry laughed and then even hugged Steve and Johnny. Even though they weren't that close, Steve hung out with Sodapop so much over the years that he was practically a member of the family, and Johnny had become good friends with Ponyboy in such a short amount of time. He was going to miss them all. He was even sorry that he didn't get a chance to see Dally before he left.

Darry, Soda, and Ponyboy arrived back at the house to see their parents already outside standing by the car, waiting for them. Their dad was loading the bags in the trunk.

"Were have you guys been, we're going to be late." Linda said.

"Sorry, we were just playing football," Soda explained as he got in the backseat.

After about a fifteen minute drive, they arrived at the airport. Darry didn't even get a chance to sit down after he checked his ticket as an announcement came over the speakers.

"Flight 557 will now begin boarding through gate 15."

Darry took a deep breath after he heard that.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to go."

"Have a good trip Darry," Ponyboy said.

"Thanks Ponyboy. I'm gonna miss you," he said while hugging his youngest brother. After a few seconds they let go of each other and Darry hugged Soda.

"Bye Darry." Soda said.

"Bye, and both you guys remember to keep up with your schoolwork."

"We will." Pony answered.

Darry then turned towards his Mom and saw that her eyes were watery.

"Mom…"

"I'm fine," Linda insisted as she hugged him. "I love you."

"I love you too."

After his Mom let go of him Darry turned towards his Dad who had a slight smile on his face. Slowly, he stuck his hand out for Darry to shake.

"I'm very proud of you Darry. Very."

"Thanks Dad."

After he let go of his hand Darry picked up his suitcases and started heading down the gate. He didn't stop to look back, thinking it would be too much to handle. He kept telling himself that he was ready for this.

This was a big step for him; he was starting his life.


	7. Back to School

XXXXXX

The early morning sunlight filtered in through the window of the bedroom as Ponyboy woke up to his alarm clock going off and the sound of his mother yelling that he would be late if he didn't wake up soon. Groaning, he realized that this was it; summer was over and it was time to go back to school.

Pony lifted his head off the pillow, looking over at the bed next to his and was surprised to see that Sodapop was not there. He thought for sure they would have to drag him kicking and screaming out the door to get him to go to school today.

Yawning, Ponyboy threw the covers off and got out bed, beginning to search the room for clean clothes.

Meanwhile downstairs in the living room, Soda had Steve in a headlock and was struggling to hold on to it, but eventually Steve powered his way out. Soda's hand came up to block a punch aimed at his shoulder and grabbed his opponent's wrist in the process, but he was overpowered and pulled to the floor, then twisted onto his back.

Soda struggled on the floor as Steve pinned him down and began to count.

"One…" he muttered though clenched teeth. "Two…" He then let out a yell of surprise as Soda's left arm came free, attempting to push Steve off of him. But he was not fast enough as Steve pinned his arm back down even harder then before and counted faster, while Soda tried to get out from beneath him.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten!"

Steve leapt off his friend triumphantly while clapping his hands as through brushing off dust while Sodapop cursed under his breath.

"Why do I even bother wrestling with you?" He asked himself while standing back up.

"To be honest, I really don't know." Steve grinned. "You always lose."

"That's because you cheat."

"I do not."

"Do to"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"How the hell do I cheat?"

"You use your whole body. Not to mention your smell!"

As they continued arguing, Two-Bit and Karen walked through the front door. Karen raised one of her eyebrows, a trick her brother taught her when she was younger as she looked on at the two friends shouting at each other.

"And how old are you two now?" She asked.

They stopped and looked back at her.

"I'm seventeen," Steve replied. "This one I'm not too sure about," he moved his head in Sodapop's direction.

"Hey, I'll be seventeen in a few weeks too, dick head."

"Hey Karen," came Ponyboy's voice as he greeted her when he came down the stairs, kissing her when he reached the bottom, causing Two-Bit to make a face in disgust. "Two-Bit, what are you doing here? You can't go back to school this year. You graduated."

"Don't remind me," Two-Bit muttered as he walked further into the living room and sat down on the recliner. "You guys are so lucky."

"What are you talking about?" Soda asked. "You don't have to go to school anymore and you're sitting around looking sad."

While Soda was glad he was entering eleventh grade, and that he was doing better in school than he ever had thanks to help from Sandy, but still didn't like going and had yet another year to go. To him, Two-Bit got the best news in the world when he graduated.

"Exactly, you don't know what you have. Enjoy your youth."

"Our youth?" Steve laughed. "You're only twenty!"

"I know! Okay! I know!"

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Soda asked as he turned towards his sister.

"Mom wants him to get a job." Karen answered.

"So get a job, lazy ass."

"Never." Two-Bit growled.

"Okay guys, we have to get going." Ponyboy said while throwing his back pack over his shoulder. "See you later Two-Bit."

Two-Bit muttered something under his breath in return as the four of them headed out the door, getting into Steve's car. When they started driving and finally got out onto the road, Steve noticed they were being tailed by a motorcyclist. He switched lanes and saw it was Curly Shepard.

"You're gonna get yourself killed on that thing!" Pony yelled out to him when they got to the red light.

Curly's smirk was masked by his helmet.

"I've been riding on this thing since I was thirteen!" He yelled back. After a moment, he looked at Steve. "Hey, Randle...wanna race!"

Steve looked over at Sodapop, and a grin came over his face.

"Why not?"

Both boys kept their eyes on the light until it turned green. When it did, both boys simultaneously stepped on the gas and began driving as fast as they could to the school.

The students in the parking lot of Will Rogers High School looked over there shoulders in surprise as they heard the sound of a speeding car and finally Steve's car came flying into view with a motorcycle on it's tail, the car reaching the parking lot first.

"Damn, we'll have to put money on our next race won't we?" Steve smiled as he got out of the car, gloating about his win.

"Whatever Randle," Curly snapped as he parked his bike, taking off his helmet.

"Come on, don't be a sore loser."

Curly responded by sticking his middle finger up as he approached the school. Ponyboy and Karen however, were just completely ignoring whatever was going on between the two as they entered the school, hand in hand.

"Nervous?" Pony asked as he showed her around.

"A little." Karen admitted.

"Don't worry. I was nervous too when I started last year, but you get use to everything pretty quickly."

As Ponyboy continued making his way through the school with his girlfriend, several other kids noticed him and nodded when he walked by. Last year Pony had gotten the reputation of being a 'golden boy' since he never got into trouble and always had the best grades of the class.

The two walked around the school, upstairs and down until the bell rang, Ponyboy showing her to where all her classes were, some he had last year. While they were a grade apart, they were happy to be going to the same school again.

"See you at lunch," Ponyboy said before he walked away and Karen walked into her science class, taking an empty seat in the back. The class filled up with kids, and soon the teacher, Mrs. Renee came in and greeted the students, welcoming them to the first day at Will Rogers, before taking out a list and began to call role.

"Karen Mathews?" She called, finally reaching her name.

Karen raised her hand and Mrs. Renee looked up from the list. When she saw her, the teacher began to see that the young girl resembled somebody from a few years ago.

"Mathews? You wouldn't happen to be related to Two-Bit Mathews, would you?"

"Yes, he's my older brother." She sighed.

"Oh my god…I don't want to see him again. He's not coming in ever, is he?"

"No, of course not." Karen said, her brows furrowed a little. "Why would he?"

"Good."

Karen sighed and leaned back in her seat, wondering what her brother could have possible done to her and if she had any other teachers Two-Bit had tortured over the time he was here. It was definitely going to be an interesting year.

Just as the teacher started to pass out the science textbooks, a light banging could be heard on the window. The whole class looked over and Karen's eyes widened in shock when she saw her older brother standing outside with a big smile on his face.

"Hey, Mrs. Renee!" He yelled.

Mrs. Renee dropped the books she had in her hands as she looked at the horror that was standing outside the window.

"Oh no...no!"

"Let me in!" Two-Bit smiled. "I want to come in and say hi!"

"No, go away!"

She spun around and ran into the hallway to get secruity as Karen got to her feet, angry at him for coming here on her first day at high school.

"Two-Bit, get out of here!"


	8. Restaurant Rumble

XXXXXX

The usual silent atmosphere hovered over the third floor of South 101st East Avenue Hospital, particularly in the room 310, where Dally layed on his back, just waking up, now his fourth day in this place and he was quickly getting tired of being here. The stillness of the hallway was suddenly broken by the sound of squeaky rubber shoes against the white tiled floor as a nurse led a visitor down the corridor towards his room.

A few seconds later, the nurse carefully opened the door and peeked inside. Dally closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He didn't want to deal with her or anyone else right now.

"He appears to be asleep right now." The nurse whispered to someone. "Maybe you should come back later."

"Uh, okay," responded a familiar voice.

Johnny? What was he doing here?

"Wait," Dally said as he looked at the door. The nurse stuck her head back in the door after she heard his voice. "It's okay, I'm awake. Let him in."

The nurse nodded and opened the door further and Johnny came walking in, not looking as nervous as he did the last time he was here. The door was then closed, leaving the two of them to themselves.

"Doesn't school start again today?" Dally asked.

"Oh...yeah." Johnny shrugged. "I didn't feel like going."

"Well, I was going to leave this place today, since you're here I might as well get going now." Dally responded while swinging his legs over the bed.

"Wait, aren't you still hurt?" Johnny asked, concerned. "Shouldn't you stay here?"

"Believe me, if I don't get out of here, I'm gonna go nuts."

Dally put his shirt back on carefully over his bandaged ribs. After throwing on his leather jacket, he lightly hit Johnny's shoulder, signaling him to follow.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Johnny asked when the two walked out of the hospital, walking across the street and up on the sidewalk.

"I don't know. We'll find someplace to hang out until the guys get out of school."

"Hey, Two-Bit is probably home."

"You really wanna spend the next few hours with him?"

"Uhh..."

Johnny didn't answer as they continued walking. Dally pulled a cigarette from his jacket's pocket and lit up. He was about to offer Johnny one but then he remembered that he didn't smoke. Just then, as he turned his head to blow out a puff of smoke he saw two people following them; two very familiar people.

"Oh, Christ." Dally muttered.

"What?"

"We're being followed."

"By who?"

"Let's just say by two people who don't like me very much."

Dally then began looking around, looking for some place for the two of them to duck into. Usually he would never try to dodge a fight, but right now, he was in no condition to fight and he didn't want to worry about something happening to the kid.

They kept walking until Dally noticed they were approaching a fairly well-known Italian restaurant, one someone like him would never step foot in.

"Quick, in here," Dally said while grabbing Johnny's arm and pulling him inside.

The waiter by the entrance raised an eyebrow when he saw the two of them, and looking over the way they were dressed. They looked like hoods, Dally knew that but they didn't have much of an option to be in here right now.

"Um, may I help you?" He asked.

"Yeah, uh…table for two," Dally muttered, feeling like an idiot but wanting to keep a low profile right now.

"Right…follow me please."

The waiter led the way to a table as Dally and Johnny followed, catching the attention of most of the other people in the place.

"Here you are sir," the waiter said, motioning Dally to sit at his table, on the other side of which sat Johnny. "Someone will be along in a few minutes to take your order. Have a nice meal."

"Thank you," Dally said while glaring at the waiter until he had gone back to the front of the restaurant to welcome other new people who enter.

"I don't think we should have come in here," Johnny stated, his gaze shifting back and forth between Dally and the other people dining, who was taking occasional glances at them. "This isn't the kind of place-"

"I know kid," Dally interrupted. "We just have to wait here for a few minutes, than we'll leave."

"Who was following us-"

Before he could finish, suddenly someone pushing the front door of the restaurant open so hard it banged loudly against the wall. Two older teenagers walked in, Aaron and Jason Brumley.

"May I help-uoff!"

The waiter at the front was interrupted as Aaron slammed his fist into the side of his face, knocking him right into the wall, causing the well dressed man to drift off into unconsciousness.

Dally looked over and when he saw them he could only shake his head in disbelief that they were willing to jump him in a crowded restaurant.

"These guys just don't give up." He said to himself.

Before he could get up out of his chair, Aaron came running over and tackled Dally to the ground, chair and all. Johnny got up and before he could help his friend he was grabbed from behind and spun around, getting punched in the face by Jason. He then went to help his brother fight Dally but Johnny quickly picked himself up and launched himself on Jason's back.

Panicking waiters and customers quickly got of their seats and while screaming and yelling, began stampeding towards the emergency exit of the restaurant.

Grabbing Dally by the back of his neck, Aaron grunted as he lifted him up, tossing him onto a nearby table, sending spaghetti and wine spilling all over him. Stomping towards him, Aaron grabbed the collar of Dally's jacket and was about to pull him up when Dally got his leg up, kneeing him in the crouch sending him stumbling backwards in pain, cursing profusely.

Meanwhile, Johnny tried to stay on Jason's back but he was eventually pulled off and punched in the face again. Jason lifted him up and slammed him on top of a table, wrapping his hands around his throat.

Johnny started panicking as Jason strangled him, he looked around frantically until he saw a fork next to his head. He quickly picked up and stabbed his hand, forcing him to release Johnny.

"What's this about, Brumley?" Dally growled as he grabbed a chair and tossed it at Aaron, who ducked before it hit him.

"Just following up on some unfinished business, that's all!"

"How the hell did you know I was in the hospital!"

"Buck told us!"

He then threw himself at Dally, but Dally grabbed him in mid-air and slammed him into a wall. Aaron swung Dally around and slammed him into the opposite wall. He was stunned for a second, but was able to get a hand up and punched Aaron in the side of the face, causing him to be released.

Dally quickly picked up a bottle of wine and busted it on a table. When Aaron turned back around, Dally swung it and sliced his face. Aaron screamed in pain and fell to the floor, clutching at his face as blood began running out from the wound.

Looking over, Dally saw that Johnny was in trouble with the other Brumley. He quickly ran over and smacked Jason across the face with a hard right hook, before smashing his elbow down on his collarbone.

When Jason fell to the ground, Dally lifted Johnny up and looked him over. He had blood running out of his mouth, and marks around his neck.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Johnny responded through deep breaths. "I'll be fine."

They suddenly began hearing the sounds of sirens in the distance, and they were getting louder by the second.

"Come on kid," Dally said while taking his arm and leading him out the back way of the place. "We need to go before the police get here."

The two ran out of the back way and kept going until they were far away from the restaurant.

"Wait," Dally gasped as he held his side. They stopped and walked into an alley, Dally slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah. You?"

"I'll live."

Dally shook his head and looked up at Johnny with a slight grin.

"Kid, maybe you shouldn't spend so much time around me."


	9. Making Changes

XXXXXX

"So, what was that about?" Johnny asked as he continued to walk with Dally down the sidewalk, leaving the alley after the sound of the sirens died down.

"What?"

"Why were those guys after you?"

"It's a long story," Dally muttered. He didn't feel like going into it right now, and now it seemed the Brumley Boys life's mission was to get back at him for nearly killing both of them. Each encounter they had got worse and if it kept going this way it would only end with one of them dead.

Johnny kept following Dally as he made his way up the driveway of the Mathews house. From outside, the sound of loud Elvis music playing could be heard.

"Two-Bit! Turn that shit down!" Dally yelled as he walked through the front door. He and Johnny walked into the living room to see Two-Bit in the corner, taking a swig from a beer bottle, almost teetering off the chair he was sitting in from leaning it too far over on the two legs.

He grinned when he saw his two buddies, leaning forward to the coffee table to shut the radio off.

"Hey guys," he greeted but then took a closer look at them, and saw stains on Dally's white shirt and that Johnny had a cut on his mouth. "What have you two been doing?"

"Fuck off," Dally muttered as he walked over to sit down on the couch.

Two-Bit ignored him and looked to Johnny.

"What happened Johnny?"

"We got into a fight?" He shrugged.

"With each other?"

"No, with two other guys. I don't know who they were."

"Well, you gotta be careful walking around with him," Two-Bit said while nodding his head in Dally's direction. "It's like he's got a target painted on his chest."

Dally turned his head and glared at Two-Bit, be he ignored it.

"Could one of you get me another beer please?"

"Kiss my ass, get your own beer."

"Fine. Then Johnny, how about you go get the cake we made for your birthday. There's still some leftover."

Johnny nodded and walked off to the kitchen but Dally looked up in confusion.

When did Johnny have a birthday? Where was he?"

Dally got up from the couch, walking into the kitchen to see Johnny taking half a chocolate cake out of the refrigerator.

"When was your birthday?" Dally asked.

"Oh…it was a few days ago," Johnny said while getting a few forks. "The day we went to the rodeo. Ms. Mathews made the cake for me, you were still in the hospital."

Dally sighed in frustration.

"Johnny, why didn't you say anything?"

Johnny looked up at Dally and was surprised that he sounded a little mad.

"Dally...it's no big deal. I had a good time at the rodeo."

After Johnny walked out of the kitchen Dally sighed as he opened up the freezer, took out a bottle of beer and popped the lid, taking a sharp swig from the glass bottle.

When Dally finally walked back into the living room, in between bites of cake Two-Bit looked at the beer Dally had in his hand.

"What, nothing for old Two-Bit?"

Johnny groaned as he looked up at Dally. Opening his mouth, Dally was about to reply but instead spun around and walked back to the kitchen. A few seconds later he appeared again and slammed another bottle down on the table, causing a shake to vibrate through the hard wood.

Dally could tell, without even looking that his buddies were shocked by his actions. Two-Bit's eye brows were raised, but after a second he picked the bottle up.

"Thanks, Dally."

Popping the lid open, the liquid inside then exploded in Two-Bit's face. Johnny jumped back as the beer went everywhere from the blast of the spray as Two-Bit fumbled with the bottle while letting out a fine assortment of his well known words from his vocabulary before the bottle fell and broke upon contact with the floor.

Two-Bit slowly turned his head as he dripped with beer, giving Dally a death glare, who only smiled at him in return.

"Happy to help, Two-Bit."

XXXXXXXXXX

Back at the Curtis house, Darryl Senior arrived home after a hard day's work, his back a little stiff from having to roof houses all day. He was about to go upstairs to take a shower when the phone rang. Grunting a little, he limped over to the living room and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dad?"

Darryl smiled.

"Darry?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just thought I give you a quick call. So, how's everybody?"

"Everybody's fine. So, how's are things going there?"

"Oh…good. A little hectic."

"I bet it is."

"Is Sodapop or Ponyboy around?" Darry asked.

"No, they're not home yet." Mr. Curtis answered.

"Well, can you tell everybody I said hi? I gotta go."

"Sure, and hey…it was good to hear from you. You take care."

"You too, Dad."

While Darryl hung up the phone, Ponyboy and Sodapop were walking through the park, just getting out of school a few minutes ago. Pony sat his backpack down and ran to the monkey bars, swinging up to sit on the top, almost like a professional.

"You come here a lot, don't you?" Soda commented before jumping up to grab a hold of Pony's leg, trying to drag him down.

"Soda! What are you doing?" Ponyboy laughed, trying to hold on to the bars.

After a minute, Soda was successful and Ponyboy plummeted to the ground. They both landed on the sand next to each other, and started to laugh.

"Hey Pony," Sodapop said, remembering something. "Mom wanted to know if either of us wanted to move into Darry's room."

Ponyboy looked over at his brother.

"Do you want Darry's room?"

"Do you?"

"You can have it if you want."

Sodapop didn't mind having to share a room with Ponyboy for the last few years, but having two beds next to each other in the same room did cramp things up since the ceiling was too low to have bunk beds. Now that Darry was in college it didn't make sense to him to have to keep sharing a room, but didn't know how it would affect Pony, before he shared a room with him, he shared with Darry before he entered high school. He always had someone else with him.

"Are you sure you'll be alright? You know...not having anyone else in the room with you?"

Pony rolled his eyes.

"Soda, I'm not a baby."

Sodapop grinned. Sometimes he forgot Ponyboy was now fifteen years old.

"I know."

After that, Soda kicked himself up and offered his brother his hand, which he accepted.

"Come on, I'll race you home."

"Get ready to lose," Pony said while smirking.

"Yeah, yeah, mister track star."

They both got ready.

"On your mark...get set..." Soda began, but before saying 'go' he took off, trying to get a head start.

"Soda! You cheater!" Ponyboy yelled while taking off, quickly catching up to him. After a few seconds of running, he passed Soda as their house came into view.

He was halfway across the yard when he was tackled around the waist by Soda and they both tumbled to the ground with a bone jarring thump.

Sodapop tried to put a headlock on Pony but he was elbowed in the side and jumped on him. After a few minutes of play fighting, their Dad opened the front door to see what the noise was.

"Hey, cut it out! Both of you!"

When he heard the sound of his Dad's voice, Soda grinned and got to his feet while brushing dirt and grass off his shirt before leaning down to help his little brother up.

"Sorry, Dad. We were just playing around."

"It sounded like you were trying to kill each other to me." Darryl responded while motioning them to come inside. "Come on, I'm just starting dinner."

The two brothers grinned at each other before following their Dad up into the house.


	10. Angel Eyes

XXXXXX

The following afternoon Ponyboy exited the cafeteria heading to his last class of the day, history with Mrs. Varone. Just then the bell went off and Pony quickened his pace before finally arriving into the room, the last one to arrive. He smiled apologetically to the teacher who gave him a warm smile in return as he took his seat. After a few moments, the teacher walked to the front of the room and addressed the class.

"The first project of this class will be worth one-hundred points and will be counted twice." Mrs. Varon began. "It will be due in three weeks, and late projects will not be accepted. This is a big project, hence you will each be assigned a partner to work with."

She glanced at the clock and then back at the class.

"You have the whole class period to begin planning with your partners."

After passing out the worksheets telling them what to do for their projects, she began calling out names, assigning people to partners.

"Ponyboy Curtis, you will be working with Sherri Valance."

Pony began looking around for the girl he was partnered with until he saw a beautiful redhead sitting in the last seat of the second row, a smile on her stunning face as she raised her hand slightly, identifying herself.

When everyone was paired up, the whole room suddenly got noisy as the sound of students getting up to meet with their partners, talking, and moving chairs.

But Ponyboy didn't move at all. The thought of going over to sit with her made his heart pound like a fool. Finally, Pony shook his head and was able to get out of his seat and walked over to her desk. He swallowed nervously when he was now in front of her and bit his bottom lip.

"Hi, I'm Sherri Valance," she introduced herself, flashing another warm smile.

"Hello, Sherri. I'm Ponyboy Curtis."

Sherri merely nodded and Ponyboy grabbed another desk and pulled it closer to hers, a little surprised that she didn't respond with a 'You're kidding, or 'That's your real name?' like he got from anyone else he introduced himself to for the first time.

Over the next forty-five minutes, the two of them went over the project. It was something about World War II, and they needed to do an oral report in front of the class about an important event that occurred during the war. After talking and going through the text book, they finally decided to do it on the dropping of the Atomic Bomb.

It was now getting closer to the end of the period and Sherri grabbed a pen, preparing to write something down.

"What's your phone number?"

Ponyboy's mouth dropped a little in surprise and he couldn't speak. Why did she want his phone number? When she saw his reaction, she quickly added an explanation.

"I mean…to call you and we can meet up to work on this project...if you want."

"Oh…" Pony said, and then smiled. "Yeah...sure." He picked up his pencil and wrote his number down himself on the piece of paper.

"Thank you," Sherri said.

"Sure. Call me whenever."

"It was nice meeting you. And by the way, you can call me Cherry. All my friends do, because of my hair."

"Oh yeah. Okay, C-Cherry." Ponyboy stuttered horribly.

When the bell finally rang he grabbed his book and exited the class. While outside he pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck.

"Wow…" was all he could say.

After getting his backpack out of his locker, Ponyboy walked out the front doors of the main entrance, waiting for Steve's car to drive by. But after a few minutes it never did and Pony guessed he and Sodapop must have left without him.

Sighing, he began kicking rocks as he began walking. He decided to stop off at the Mathews house to see if Karen was there already. A few minutes later, he arrived at his destination, making his way through the front door and climbed the staircase.

Karen was sitting on her bed, trying to get an early finish on her homework. Over the past few days, she had gotten more work then she had been use to from her time in Berryhill Junior High, and was just feeling a little overwhelmed. She then heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Pony. Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Ponyboy opened the door to find Karen lying on her bed, holding a English text book in her hand with a paper in the other.

"Hey," he said as he walked in sat down on the bed.

She didn't respond as he continued to write something down. Pony looked at her carefully, noticing that she looked a little stressed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You really don't look fine."

Karen sighed.

"I don't know…it's just I didn't expect to get so much work at school so quick."

"Tell me about it, our history class already has to do a project."

"That sucks."

Ponyboy nodded in agreement. He then wondered for a second if he should tell Karen about the partner he was paired up with, but he shook his head of the thought and kept talking.

"Don't worry. You'll get use to everything. Just give it some time."

Karen smiled and leaned forward, wrapping her boyfriend in a big hug. He returned it and let the moment sink in. But then, he got an idea. Ponyboy suddenly poked Karen in the side, causing her to yelp and jump away. Upon seeing that, his lips broke into a wide smile.

She didn't like the mischievous look on his face and began to crawl backwards.

"Pony…what are you-"

Before she could say anymore, Ponyboy jumped forward, pinning her to the bed and began to her around the sides and under her arms. Karen screamed with laughter as Ponyboy moved his fingers up and down her body, hitting every ticklish spot he could. She tried to protest, but was overcome with laughter every time.

Just then, Two-Bit walked through the front door with his girlfriend Kathy.

"Two-Bit, what are we doing here?" She asked.

"Relax, I just forgot my wallet." He said as he walked into the kitchen where he left it. "I have a nice night planned for us. I can't make my girl pay the bill can I?"

Kathy smiled.

"I know you don't have any money Two-Bit, you don't have a job. So what's really on your mind?"

Two-Bit grinned like the Cheshire cat and approached Kathy, about to wrap his arms around when he suddenly heard the bouncing of bed springs from upstairs. He raised an eyebrow and looked up at the ceiling.

"What in the world is that?"

He then heard two familiar voices yell out;

"Stop Pony! I can't take much more!"

"I won't stop until you say it!"

Two-Bit's jaw dropped and his eyes widened as he looked back at Kathy.

"What the hell are those two doing?"

"Couldn't tell you," Kathy responded as she looked up at the ceiling as the sound of two people jumping up and down on a bed continued. "But it sounds like-"

"I know what it sounds like! Go upstairs and listen by the door!"

"Why me?"

"I can't go, it'll scar me for life!"

Back in the room, Karen had placed a pillow over her face to muffle her laughs as Ponyboy continued tickling her until she was reduced to a giggling mess. Finally, he decided that she had suffered enough, and his fingers were too tired to continue.

By now, Karen was completely spent. Ponyboy got up off her and sat down of the edge of the bed. As she caught her breath, Pony asked;

"Are you okay, Karen?"

"I'm exhausted," Karen answered in between heaving breaths.

"Yeah...I'm sorry about that. I guess I got a little carried away."

"Well…not as carried away as I'm gonna get!"

Karen suddenly launched herself and tackled Ponyboy off the bed and was now sitting on his stomach. Pony looked shocked by her sudden burst of energy.

Outside, Kathy was listening by the door and after she heard the two of them and she bit her lip to keep from laughing as the sound of rolling around, this time on the floor came. She slowly turned back, heading down the stairs.

"Well?" Two-Bit asked as his girlfriend walked back into the living room.

"Um…I think they might be…" Kathy began.

"Oh my god, my best friend and little sister are having-"

Two-Bit then shuttered at the thought, then moved around her to head up the stairs but Kathy grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm going to break them up."

"Come on Two-Bit, let's just go."

"No way. That's my little sister, she's only fourteen. I thought Ponyboy was better than this."

Two-Bit marched up the stairs to the door and began to hammer on it as hard as he could.

"Ponyboy! Karen! Open up!"

There was no answer. Only the sounds of laughter could be heard on the other end.

"Open this door right now!"

More laughter.

"Alright! I'm coming in!"

Two-Bit covered his eyes and turned the doorknob opening the door. He slowly took his hand off his face only to see Karen straddling Ponyboy, tickling him with a perverse glee in her eyes. She continued to playfully taunt him and demand he holler 'uncle', neither of them seemed to notice him standing in the doorway.

"Oh, for crying out loud..." Two-Bit mumbled.

Kathy smiled as she looked into the room and saw what was going on. She pulled on the sleeve of her boyfriend's shirt.

"Come on, Two-Bit. You don't seriously want to ruin this, do you?"

Two-Bit back away and shut the door. He didn't really want to interrupt what they were doing because his sister was still mad at him for coming to her class a few days ago. He then took a deep breath and shook his head.

"I think I'm gonna need therapy."

"Oh come on, it's cute."

"Cute," he muttered to himself as he walked down the stairs.

Back in the room, Karen continued tickling Ponyboy until he finally could take no more and hollered 'uncle.' Karen laughed, but true to her word she stopped and smiled down at him.

She continued looking over at him and crowed in triumph. "I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone you lost to a girl…again."

Pony smiled back up at her as his breathing slowly went back to normal.

"I'll beat you one day."

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

Karen then leaned down further until Ponyboy and her faces were mere inches apart. And before she knew it, their lips met. Warmth filled both their bodies as they melted into the kiss. Pony's arms slowly moved up and wrapped them around Karen's neck, pulling her closer to him.


	11. Smoke Break

XXXXXX

It was finally Friday as the bell suddenly rang signaling the end of the second period and the start of a five minute break. Ponyboy walked out of art class and met up with Johnny and the two soon caught up with Sodapop.

"Hey Soda, how was class?" Pony asked.

"It sucked, Mr. Stewart made me stay after and told me to stop making stupid excuses for why I'm late."

"Well, I don't blame him. What did you tell him the last time you were late…that you were stuck in a well?"

Johnny started chuckling while Soda made a face at his brother.

"Alright, I choked." He admitted while the three turned the corner and walked down the hall to the locker room for gym class.

The three of them had the same gym teacher and were more than happy about it because it was the only class they all had together. The only person missing from the group was Steve. They entered the locker room just as the five minute bell went off, its loud screech going throughout the school. Just as Johnny approached his locker to get his gym clothes, someone bumped into his shoulder, making him stumble back a little.

"Watch it, little boy." Curly warned.

"I'm sorry," Johnny muttered sarcastically as he went back to putting in the combination to his lock. "I was just breathing," he finished, more quietly to himself.

However, Curly must have heard him as he turned back around with a smirk on his face.

"That's the problem," he said while walking back over and bumping into Johnny again. "You're takin' up all my good air."

Johnny looked down at his shoes, not wanting to anything to happen, especially right here in school. But fortunately, Sodapop saw what was going on and walked over while changing his shirt.

"You got a problem, Shepard?"

Curly looked over at Soda and smirked, trying to look tough but knew deep down that he couldn't take him. Not on his own, at least.

"No problem, Curtis." He said while walking back to his locker.

Turning his head, Johnny gave Soda a greatful smile and he nodded at him in return.

Meanwhile, out in a department store in town, Dally was standing in front of various assortments of objects in the aisle he was in, rubbing his chin. He wondered what Johnny would like, what he would be into…or why he was out getting him something to begin with.

He didn't know why, but just like last year during the hollidays when he saw Johnny leaving his house in the freezing cold, he cared then...and he cared even more now.

Finally, Dally approached the section where the store kept their blades and began looking them over.

He picked up several different switchblades, examining each one carefully. Dally then held a blade with the hilt being two shades of blue.

"I wonder if he would like this," Dally said to himself. He then started to wonder if Johnny could even handle a knife.

Johnny was old enough, and he shouldn't be walking around certain parts of town without one because he could get jumped by somebody some day. All the other guys had one, he should too.

Dally then came across a switchblade that was jet black with a red streak going through it. He grinned.

This was the one.

Looking around to see if any customers or store employees were watching him, Dally quickly placed the knife in his jacket's pocket and turned to leave.

XXXXXXXXXX

After the last bell of the day went off, Johnny exited the school not even bothering to go to the student parking lot to get a ride with the rest of the guys. He kept walking until he was far away from the school and getting closer to the bowling alley.

When he got there, Johnny approached the phone booth they kept outside and stepped in, closing the door behind him. It was still and quiet in here, just how he liked it.

Reaching into his pocket, Johnny took out the cigarette he had asked Ponyboy for. He stared at it, knowing that he had never smoked before. His heart beating in anticipation, Johnny took the lighter out of his other pocket. Pony had once told him that having a cigarette now and then calmed his nerves, so he figured it would be worth a try. God only knew his nerves needed claming.

Johnny put the cigarette in his mouth and tried three times before he managed to get the lighter to work. He switched hands and breathed in so his mouth filled with the warm smoke.

Just as Johnny took another drag, Dally was driving down the street in Buck Merrill's borrowed T-Bird when he slowly down when he saw the familiar blue jeans jacket in the phone booth. He could only smirk when he saw what he was doing in there.

After another minute went by, Dally honked the horn and Johnny spun around in surprise and quickly threw the cigarette down when he saw him.

Dally rolled down the window and waved him over.

"Get in."

He reached over to unlock the passenger door, Johnny slowly walked over and opened it and sat down. Once the door was closed, Dally began driving.

"I thought you didn't smoke."

"I took it up recently." Johnny muttered. "For my health."

"You get them from Ponyboy?" Dally asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Yeah."

"And...?"

"Well, it made me feel better."

"Better?"

Johnny nodded.

Dally just shook his head while running the red light causing Johnny's jaw to drop.

"So, where do you want me to drop you off? Pony's house?"

"Uh, yeah I guess."

The drive then went by in silence for a minute or two before Johnny decided to ask Dally something.

"Dally, how come I never see you at school?"

"Because I don't go."

"I know...why?"

"For the sake of everybody else. If I to go to that hellhole every day I don't know who I would kill first, me or the teacher."

Johnny didn't respond as he stared ahead out the window, Dally then glanced over at him.

"What, you can't tell me you actually like going to school."

"No...not really."

"So why do you keep going?"

"Well..."

He didn't get a chance to answer as Dally had reached the Curtis house and pulled up along side the driveway.

"See you later, kid."

"Thanks for the ride," Johnny said while opening up the door to get out. Before he his foot hit the ground, he turned back to Dally. "Hey, me and Two-Bit were gonna head the movies tonight. Want to come with us?"

Dally shrugged, he didn't really didn't have anything better to do.

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay. See you later."

Johnny then got up of the car and made his way up to the front door, Dally watched him the whole way until he walked inside before driving away.

It was just after he turned the corner did Dally stop on the breaks and curse. He forgot to give Johnny the switchblade. He looked over his shoulder and then looked at the steering wheel before shrugging.

'I'll give it to him later on tonight' he thought to himself before starting to drive again and heading in the direction of Buck's place.


	12. Into the Night

XXXXXX

After getting done in the bathroom, Ponyboy walked out into the hallway and hear two voices talking. He took a few steps forward to Darry's room, well Sodapop's room now, looking inside to see Soda standing by the mirror combing his hair back, and Steve sitting on the bed.

"Hey, guys." He greeted.

Steve nodded at him and Soda turned to look over when he heard his voice.

"Hey Pony. What are you up to tonight?"

Pony shrugged. He really didn't have any plans.

"I'll probably meet up with Two-Bit and Johnny. What are you guys doing?"

"We're going to shoot a game of pool. Wanna come?"

Ponyboy flinched. He hated it when Soda asked him to tag along with them, especially right now with Steve in the room. He took a quick glance at Steve before looking down at the floor.

"Uh...no, that's okay Soda."

Steve however shook his head and waved his hand.

"Its okay Pony, come with us."

"Really?" Ponyboy asked, a shocked look on his face. Steve actually wanted him to come along?

"Yeah, come on."

After Soda got done with his hair, the three of them headed down the stairs, exiting the house and got into Steve's car. The drive was about ten minutes long before Steve parked the car outside of 'Classen Grill' and they headed in the place.

"I remember this place," Pony grinned while opening the door. "This was where Steve left me when he got mad and drove off."

Steve looked back at him with a smirk.

"I thought we were past that."

"We are."

They walked back to the pool tables and Soda handed each one a pool stick before he got ready to take the first shot. Settling for the five, he took aim and the ball went straight into one of the pockets. He went on to hit the seven into the side pocket but with the next shot, he failed to get any of the balls in, so it was now Ponyboy's turn.

Pony took the pool stick and aimed it at the twelve ball, since it was the closest one to a pocket. After it went in smoothly in the corner pocket, he missed the next shot so it was Steve's turn now. Nobody had said a word since they began to play and Pony decided to bring something up.

"Did you guys get assigned a World War II project in your history class?"

"Oh yeah," Steve responded while walking around the table. "That's bullshit we get something like that so early. It's only the first week of school."

"At least its not due to the end of the month." Soda shrugged. "Who's your partner?"

"Some geek with really thick glasses," Steve said while knocking the two ball into the pocket. "But apparently he gets straight A's, so I think I'll let him do all the work."

"I have to work with some kid that gets straight D's." Soda replied. "Considering my grades, I think we're in trouble here."

"My partner's a girl." Pony spoke up while sharpening the end of his stick. "Her name's Sherri. Sherri...Valance."

After Pony said that, Steve's head snapped up causing him to completley miss the shot.

"Sherri Valance is your partner?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You lucky little bastard, you've got a cheerleader as your partner."

"A cheerleader huh?" Soda asked while raising an eyebrow. "How hot is she? From one to ten?"

"A twelve." Steve answered.

"So, should I tell Karen that Sherri is my partner?" Pony asked. "I mean, since we're gonna have to work on this for the next three weeks. I don't want her to get the wrong idea about things, if she saw us together."

Sodapop nodded.

"Yeah, you should."

"No way, big mistake." Steve responded.

"What are you talking about? If he doesn't tell her and she finds out, she'll wonder why he was keeping it a secret in the first place."

"So what do you want him to do? Tell Karen his partner has an ass like a nectarine?"

"No, but he's gotta tell her something."

Pony just sighed while shaking his head as he prepared to take the next shot, knocking three balls into the same pocket. After that, he hit the eight ball into the middle left pocket and looked up to smirk at the other two boys.

"I win," he said with satisfaction.

"Luck, pure luck." Steve said while racking the balls up, getting ready for another game. "This time we play for money."

"Okay," Soda smiled while pulling a five dollar bill from the jeans.

"I don't have any money with me," Pony responded.

"Then I guess you don't play."

"Hey, be nice to my little brother." Soda warned.

Steve glared at him but shrugged.

"Fine, he can play. But if I win, you have to pay double, Soda."

XXXXXXXX

It was that time of the year. Autumn, wonderful autumn, and it made Linda sick with longing. It brought up memories of running through the leaves, eating huge bowlfuls of her mother's spaghetti after crisp, clear afternoons spent laying on the grass, watching the clouds and playing with her golden retriever her dad had gotten her.

Linda wasn't tired that night, in fact she was wide awake. After a day of being on her feet, hard at work at her job at the hospital she thought she would have been asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, but she was still tossing and turning.

Sighing, Linda pulled the blanket off her and got to her feet, pulling her black robe on, deciding to go downstairs to get something to drink.

Downstairs, Darryl was sitting on the recliner in the living room, reading a book in the peace and quiet as the fire crackled in the fireplace.

"Hey," a voice softly spoke.

Darryl looked a bit startled as he looked up from the book.

"Linda," he said as his wife walked into the living room.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Its okay, you didn't." He said as he sat the book down on his chest. "What are you still doing up? I thought you have an early shift tomorrow."

"I can't sleep." She shrugged. "What about you? You looked exhausted when you came home today."

"I'm okay, plus the boys are still out."

"Darryl, I don't think you have to wait up for them anymore. They're older now and they know when their curfew is."

"I don't mind, really."

Ever since the boys had been in junior high and went out on the weekends, Darryl would wait up for them and wouldn't go to sleep until everyone was back at home, safe and sound, no matter how tired he was.

Sometimes Linda worried that her husband worked too hard, but knew deep down that he would never change anything he did, he took the job of being the provider for the family seriously.

"Alright."

After getting a glass of water from the kitchen, Linda walked back out towards the staircase.

"Good night, Darryl."

"Sweet dreams," Darryl smiled as he watched her pause for a second before she disappeared up the stairs.

For the next half hour, Mr. Curtis continued reading and was able to finish the book. He closed it and carefully put it down on the coffee table and then went over to put out the fire.

Just then, the front door opened and Ponyboy came bouncing in with Sodapop right behind him.

"Hey, Dad." Soda greeted when he saw him.

"Hey boys." Darryl then looked up at the clock. "You're actually on time tonight."

"Well, there's always a first for everything."

Darryl smiled.

"I'm going to sleep now. You both can stay up for as long as you want to, just don't go back out."

"Alright." Pony said. "Good night."


	13. Guys Night Out

XXXXXX

On that same night, Dally was sitting next to Johnny in the Nightly Double, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he continued to watch this dull beach movie Two-Bit dragged them both two. He started looking around when he realized his buddy had been away from his seat for a few minutes now and saw him messing with these two girls seated a few rows down from them.

"Hey baby," Two-Bit said while smiling down at the girls and grabbing at his pants. "You want to see what's hanging?"

"Get away from us you filthy greaser!" One of them yelled.

Dally shook his head with a slight grin as Two-Bit came running back up to where they were sitting and leaped on top of one of the seats. Taking the bucket of popcorn from Johnny, he started jumping up and down while shoveling handfuls of it in his mouth, attracting attention from everyone else. Johnny looked up at him and wondered if he had been drinking or not. He could never tell.

"Two-Bit, cut it out." Johnny whispered to him.

"Fine," he said while jumping over the seat. "I gotta piss anyway. You guys want anything?"

When neither one of them responded, Two-Bit spun around and headed out. Just as he left, Dally suddenly remembered something.

"Hey Johnny," he said while taking the switchblade he stole the other day out of his pocket and handing it to him. "I got this for you."

"What's this for?"

Dally shrugged.

"All of us have a blade we carry with us, just in case something happens. You're the only one who doesn't. Plus since it was your birthday a few days ago…"

Johnny grinned.

"Dally, you didn't have to buy me anything."

"Who said anything about buying?"

Back out in the lobby of the theater, Two-Bit was about to make his way into the restroom when the sound of two voices from inside stopped him. He began to listen more carefully and heard a man and woman's voice before he slowly pushed the door open. Two-Bit then saw that it was a soc who was holding a girl against the wall.

"I don't want to do this in here." The girl said.

The soc grinned evilly and gripped her arm harder.

"Well, there's always the second option."

"Hey," Two-Bit said loudly, catching the attention of both of them. "I believe this is the men's restroom."

The soc turned his head and looked him up and down, smirking coolly.

"So, what's going on here?" he asked, leaning against the door so no one else could enter.

"It's none of your damn business," the soc snarled. "So why don't you run along and see if there's a nice old lady you could mug?"

Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow.

"Mugging old ladies does nothing for me. Cutting up a spineless prick like you however," he said while taking out his switchblade. "That would be more fun. Don't ya think?"

The girls eyes widened in fear when he flicked the blade open and she looked back at her boyfriend.

"Please don't..."

"Too late, babe."

Just as they got ready to fight, Johnny and Dally got up from their seats when the movie came to an end and headed to the lobby. The both of them were about to light a cigarette when a girl running out from the restroom, screaming that there was a fight going on inside.

"What the hell?" Dally said to himself as he watched the girl run away.

"Two-Bit's in there," Johnny realized.

Dally ran over to the door, hearing voices shouting and banging around from inside. He looked inside to see Two-Bit grappling with some kid who looked like a soc. They were both trying to push each other against the wall when the soc was finally able to nail Two-Bit with a strong left hook that took him to the ground.

He looked down at the floor and saw the blade that had fallen from Two-Bit's hand when they began fighting and reached down to pick it up. But before he could do stab him with it, Dally lunged at the soc and pinned him against the wall, kneeing him in the crotch, making him drop it.

Dally then slammed his forearm against the side of the socs head, causing him to slump down to the ground, knocked out. He then looked back at Two-Bit, who was pulling himself up.

"You okay?"

Two-Bit stared at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"Dally...you saved my life."

"Oh, god." Dally muttered while rolling his eyes.

"I owe you one, buddy."

Two-Bit then came forward with a big smile and pulled Dally into a hug, which Dally quickly pulled himself out of.

"I didn't save your damn life," he looked back at Johnny who standing in the doorway, looking amused at the whole thing. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Johnny asked after the two of them stepped out of the theater.

"The Curtis house, see if their door is still unlocked. We'll spend the night there."

Johnny hooked his thumbs in his pockets and as they began walking. Dally didn't say anything, his mind was back at that restroom where he could have gotten stabbed and put in the emergency room for a second time.

He tried to convince himself that it was only instinct of why he did it, but knew he would be lying to himself. Two-Bit was his buddy, even if he acted like a jackass sometimes, but he was someone who had watched his back on numerous occasions.

When they reached the house, Dally grabbed the doorknob and opened it, stepping inside and saw Ponyboy and Sodapop sitting on the couch, each with a glass of chocolate milk in their hands.

"Hey guys," Ponyboy greeted when he saw them. "Where you comin' from?"

"The movies." Johnny answered. "What'd you guys do?"

"Played a few games of pool."

After the four of them talked for a few minutes, the Curtis brothers headed upstairs to get some rest while Dally and Johnny headed to the kitchen to get some chocolate milk for themselves.

Just as they sat down at the table, the kitchen door was pushed open and Linda walked in.

"Hi, boys." She greeted when she saw them before taking a bottle of pills out from the cabinet.

"Hey Linda," Dally responded. "We didn't wake you did we?"

Johnny couldn't help but smile a little when Dally suddenly put on his best behavior, just like he did anytime Mrs. Curtis was around.

"No, I just can't fall asleep tonight."

After swallowing the pill with a glass of water, she sat the glass down and turned to leave.

"Well, good night boys."

"Good night," they both said at the same time, Dally watching her until the door swung shut. He then looked back at Johnny and saw the smile on his face.

"What?"

"You know...I see the way you look at Mrs. Curtis."

Dally had to keep his jaw from dropping after he heard that.

"Excuse me?"

Johnny quickly looked down at his glass.

"Nothing."

The older greaser continued to stare at him for a moment before shaking his head, forgetting about it as he took another drink from his glass.


	14. One Trick Pony

XXXXXX

The weekend was now over and it was Monday afternoon. Ponyboy was sitting in the school's library with the rest of his history class, at a table across from his partner Cherry, both doing research on their World War II project.

The two of them decided to split their work into two parts so they would hopefully get it done faster. Cherry would write about the Manhattan Project, and the choice of target. Ponyboy would write about the bombings itself on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the aftermath of the bombing.

Just as he finished completing the paragraph he was writing, the bell went off and Pony groaned. They didn't nearly get as much work done as they needed, and he wanted to get off to a good start.

"Damn," he said while putting his books into his backpack. "With my others classes and the track meets, I'll never be able to get all this done."

"You're a track runner?" Cherry asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm a cheerleader. So I'm starting to get swamped with work too."

Ponyboy nodded understandingly and got up from his seat, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. Before he could walk away from the table, Cherry spoke up again.

"Hey, would you like to go to Kendall-Whittier? Get some more of this project done?"

"Uhh..."

"Unless you have something else to do."

"No." Ponyboy said, a little too quickly. "No, I'll go."

"Good," Cherry said while gathering her books. "I'll drive us."

After she got all her things together, Cherry got up from the table and they walked out of the school to the student's parking lot together.

"Now, you can drive right?" Pony joked, attempting to lighten the mood and become friendlier with her. "You can read all the signs and stuff?"

Cherry looked back at him and smiled.

"Just shut up and get in." She motioned to the red Sting Ray they were approaching and while she got into the driver's seat, Ponyboy stared at the car for a few seconds before coming around and opening the passenger's side.

"What's with the hesitation?"

"Nothing…nothing." Pony answered. "It's just that, I've never been in such an expensive car before." He looked around wide eyed, examining the car with great interest. "Is this yours?"

Cherry nodded, finding his shocked expression a little amusing.

"Ready to go? Or should I give you a tour of the car first?"

Pony felt his ears turn red.

"No, we can go now."

"Good."

She started up the engine and drove the car out of the parking lot, turning left and hitting the green light. The wind whistled sharply as it blew, and it sent Ponyboy's hair in obscene directions as he sat quietly on the ride to Kendall Whittier Library.

When they got there, the two of them walked around the place getting all the necessary books they needed for their topic before sitting down at a table.

For the next forty minutes, they worked diligently in trying to get as much done on this project as they could. They didn't talk, and the only noise that was heard was the sound of pages being flipped before Ponyboy's stomach let out a loud growl.

Laughing under her breath, Cherry looked at Ponyboy curiously.

"Are you okay? You sound pretty hungry."

"I just didn't eat that much at lunch," Pony shrugged as he cursed his stomach mentally. "But its okay, I'm fine."

But after he said that, his stomach once again growled and his face began to show signs of embarrassment. Cherry didn't say anything but pulled her purse over to her and took a bag of something, pushing it towards Ponyboy.

He looked down at it and saw it was a bag of raisins and cashews.

"You can have it." She said.

"You sure?"

"Don't worry, it's not poisoned or anything. I'm not very hungry, and you sound like you need it right now."

"Thanks," he said while opening the bag and taking out a handful before going right back to work. Cherry however, seemed to be tried of writing and stopped to give herself a break. She began to watch Ponyboy write and after a few moments, he stopped writing with his right hand, placed the pencil in the other hand and began to write with his left.

"What in the world?" Cherry wondered out loud after she saw that.

"Oh, I can write with both hands," Pony explained and grinned when he saw her face. "I taught myself when I was in elementary school. It comes in handy with things like this."

"I bet it does."

Cherry then pulled her purse back over to her and took out her red nail polish. After flicking the tiny brush into the bottle she began to repaint the fingernails on her left hand which were beginning to fade. He couldn't help it, but every few seconds Ponyboy's eyes would look up to watch her.

When she finished, Cherry looked across from her to see Pony looking at her, but quickly looked back down at the paper again when she saw him.

Smiling, Cherry gently took Ponyboy's right hand and began to color his nails. He tried to focus on the sentence he was writing, but he messed it up several times and his heart began to beat faster as she continued to doodle on his hand. She then looked up and stared at him for a second and Pony had to fight from blushing.

"You know, you look awfully young to be in eleventh grade." She remarked while brushing over the nail of his ring finger.

"Well, I am." Pony responded, and then swallowed nervously. "I skipped ninth grade and got moved up into high school."

"Wow. You must be really smart."

Ponyboy smiled at the compliment as Cherry finished coloring his nails. When she let go of his hand, Pony looked down and examined them.

"Now your fingernails match the color of your hair."

"My hair isn't that red," he responded. "It's more like your hair."

They sat in silence for a few seconds after that before Cherry looked over at the clock on the wall and saw it was approaching five o'clock.

"It's getting late, I need to be heading home," she said while gathering her things.

"Yeah, me too."

"Hey, Pony?"

Ponyboy looked at her in the middle of zipping up with backpack.

"Thanks for coming here with me. I think we really have a good head start."

"You're welcome. I guess I'll see you in class tomorrow."

Cherry nodded as he threw his backpack over his shoulder and turned to walk out of the library. When he was outside, Ponyboy took a deep breath.

Was this girl flirting with him?

And if she was, why him? She was cheerleader for god's sake, surely she could have any boy she wanted.

Ponyboy shook his head as he began to walk home.

When he got there, Ponyboy raced upstairs and closed the bathroom door. He turned the water on and began scrubbing at his fingernails with the soap, trying to get it off. The last thing he needed was for one of the guys to see this, or Karen.

Karen.

He never told her about his history partner. He never got the chance.

Pony looked down and saw that the soap wasn't doing much so he quickly went to his parents room, heading into the bathroom and opening up the sink drawer.

He got out his mom's nail polish remover and used it to get the coloring off his fingernails.

After finally getting the nail polish off, Pony stepped out of the bathroom and headed back into his room, throwing himself down on the bed. He began to think about Karen again.

So what if he didn't tell her? He wasn't doing anything wrong. He didn't pick who his partner was. He didn't spend this afternoon with her because he attracted to her, he just wanted to get ahead on this project.

And Cherry wasn't flirting with him, she was just being friendly. They were just partners for this one project, after it was over they would just be friends. That's all.

Who says a guy and a girl can't be just friends?


	15. Job Interview

XXXXXX

That evening at the Mathews house, Two-Bit was half asleep on the couch shifting over on his side to get more comfortable when suddenly his ankles were grabbed and pulled off the couch, hitting the floor none to gently.

"Ow!" He opened his eyes to see Dally sitting on the couch now. "Damn it Dally, I was trying to sleep!"

"Tough shit. My couch now."

Then to his surprise, Two-Bit then suddenly lunged up from the floor and jumped on top of Dally, trying to press the air out of his lungs.

"Say uncle, Dally! And the couch is mine!"

"Get off me, fat ass!" Dally yelled back, trying to push the other boy off him.

"Do I look like I have a fat ass?"

The two fought off the couch and rolled onto the floor until Two-Bit had Dally in his signature chokehold while wrapping his legs around his to hold him still.

"I'm gonna cut off your air," he threatened.

Dally grunted and leaned back closer to Two-Bit, in order ease the pressure a little, but in return Two-Bit only squeezed his neck harder. Finally resorting to desperation, Dally elbowed him hard in the ribs.

Two-Bit gasped for air and let go and Dally grabbed his arm, trying to twist it behind his back, but Two-Bit managed to twist out of it and leapt on top of Dally, pinning his hands down next to his head and smirked down at him.

"Holler uncle."

Dally glared up at him, but before either of them could do anymore, the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway caught the attention of both boys, and Two-Bit looked up at the windows in worry, knowing his Mom was home.

For over a week now, he had been doing whatever he could to avoid seeing his mother so he didn't have to talk to her about how his 'job hunting' was going.

Two-Bit quickly got up to run up the stairs but Dally grabbed his leg, tripping him and elbowed him in the ribs again before holding him down to the floor so he couldn't get away.

"Dally let go!" He gasped for air while trying to get out from under Dally, but it was too late as the front door opened and Margaret Mathews stepped in.

"Hello boys," she greeted while taking off her coat, ignoring whatever they were doing.

"Ms. Mathews," Dally responded while getting up off his buddy and heading to the front door. "See you later Two-Bit," he said before leaving. When he was gone, Margaret looked down at her son as he crawled up to his feet.

"So, Keith. Have you applied for any jobs yet?"

"Well," Two-Bit sighed as he sat down on the couch. "I've been looking but I haven't found anything yet. I can't make anyone hire me, you know."

Margaret shook her head, knowing her son was lying.

"That's too bad, but I've got good news. A friend of mine is the assistant manager at The Dingo. We were talking yesterday and he brought up that they need some more crew members. I told him that you need a job and he agreed to see you tomorrow."

Two-Bit's face fell.

"Tomorrow?"

"At one o'clock."

"I don't want to work at the Dingo."

"Where _do_ you want to work?"

Scratching his head, Two-Bit sighed deeply. His mother really wasn't going to stop bugging him about this until he found work. When he was in school, he had never thought about what he wanted to do, as far as getting a job. Now that he wasn't in school anymore, he had no idea what to do with himself.

"I don't know," he finally said.

"Keith, I know what the problem is, and it has nothing to do about you being lazy." Margaret said. "You're scared."

"I am not!"

"Yes you are. And it's okay to be afraid. You don't think I was afraid when I had to get my first job?"

Two-Bit didn't respond as he began to fettle with a loose thread in the sofa.

"I never said anything about you not taking school seriously and getting held back. But now that you finally graduated, it's time to grow up and get a job. Everybody has to work, whether we like it or not."

After she said that, Margaret retreated to the kitchen to start dinner while Two-Bit continued to stay put on the couch.

"I'm not afraid!" Two-Bit called after her as he pulled the string from the couch and wrapped it around his finger. "I'm not afraid of anything."

XXXXXXX

The following day, the afternoon sun was beginning to peek through the blinds. And an almost automatic response, Two-Bit woke up and turned off the alarm with had yet to go off. Stretching in bed, he got up and threw on his jeans and shoes seeing that it was twelve twenty six. His interview was in thirty four minutes.

Looking at himself in the mirror while combing his hair back, Two-Bit smirked.

He was in a good mood again, the conversation he had with his mother last night was completely forgotten. He knew now what she was trying to do, it all about was reverse psychology, trying to get him to want to get a job.

She had used it all his life, but it wasn't going to work this time.

All he had to do was go to the Dingo and give a really bad interview. Basically, just be himself and he would never get hired.

Two-Bit walked out of the house and decided to walk there instead of taking his car since it was a nice day out. After about an eight minute walk, he arrived at the place he and his buddies ate at all the time, opening up the front door, causing the bell wrapped around the handle to go off. One of the waitress' heard the noise and upon seeing him, walked over to greet him.

"Can I help you?" The waitress asked.

"Yeah baby, I have a job interview."

She looked at him for a second before nodding and turned to go to the office in the back. After about a minute of waiting a tall man who appeared to be in his early thirties with shaggy brown hair and carrying a clipboard came out from the back and approached him, signaling Two-Bit to sit down at one of the booths.

"So, you're Margaret's boy?"

"Last time I checked."

"My names Jack," the man said, ignoring Two-Bit's sarcasm while checking out the application paper his Mom filled out for him. "So, tell me about yourself."

"Well slow down, fella. This is only our first date."

Jack smiled tolerably and had to refrain from rolling his eyes. After rubbing his chin and thinking for a moment, Two-Bit began to speak again.

"Well, I had to repeat the tenth grade several times. I spend all day either in bed, or on the couch watching television. And I have to sneak beer from my buddies parents house since my Mom doesn't drink. I go to the movies only because that adds excitement to the drinking. That's about it."

Jack wrote something down on the clipboard.

"Do you have any experience?"

"Nope. None at all."

"Would you say that you're a fast learner?"

"Did you hear me when I said I repeated tenth grade?"

"So why do you want to work for the Dingo?" Jack questioned.

"Well, because I need money. I only have a little bit in my wallet right now, I'd like to put a lot more in. That's were you come in."

"Okay, let me ask you this. What do you look for in a manager?"

"A manager that doesn't ask me to do things, doesn't mind that I show up late every day, and let's me take off early.

Jack again wrote something down on the clipboard in his hand and shook his head. Margaret told him the other day that her son would probably give bad answers to get himself out of this, and she was right.

"So do I have the job?" Two-Bit asked.

"Wait here," he said and got up, heading to the back again.

Two-Bit sat there drumming his fingertips on the tabletop, and smiled at a waitress who walked by, but was feeling a little confused. He thought for sure after giving answers like that he would have been told 'no' right then and there. No way would he get hired. Maybe the guy just had to do something first before telling him.

Then what he saw next shocked him.

Jack came back out holding a shirt, a hat, and an apron. He sat them down on the table in front of Two-Bit.

"You start on Thursday. Two o'clock."

Two-Bit looked at the clothes then up at Jack. Then back down at the clothes, then looked up at Jack again, blinking furiously.

"What?"


	16. Fighting Mad

XXXXXX

"So how do you think Two-Bit's job interview is going?" Johnny asked as he walked with Ponyboy inside the locker room with the rest of their gym class, just finishing up playing a game of basketball. Before they started classes today, Karen had told them all that her mother had gotten Two-Bit an interview at the Dingo today.

"Knowing Two-Bit, he's trying everything possible to make a bad impression." Pony answered.

"It'd be funny if he did get the job. You know, since we eat there so often."

"Yeah, I don't know if I'd want Two-Bit cooking my food."

Ponyboy then walked away to get change at his locker. Johnny took his lock in his hand and began entering the combination when he was suddenly pushed hard from behind and his head hit the locker.

"Hey, boy."

Johnny didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Curly was on the team he and Pony placed against in basketball and when Johnny scored the last shot of the game, giving their team the win, Curly didn't look very happy.

"You must think you're hot shit."

Johnny sighed as he slowly turned his head to look behind him.

"Curly, it's just a game you know. It's just...stupid gym class."

"Who you callin' stupid?"

"No, I said gym class was stupid."

"No I said gym class was stupid." Curly mocked in a whiny voice. "Listen to this little pussy."

By this time some of the other kids standing around were now paying attention to what was going on and a few started to laugh after they heard what Curly had just said.

"Come on sissy," Curly said while shoving him again, this time pushing the top of his shoulder, which still hurt from being hit by his father last night.

"Leave him alone Curly," some one said. "You know he isn't going to do anything."

"Yeah, I know he isn't. He'll probably go home and cry to his daddy."

Curly laughed and then turned to walk away when he was suddenly grabbed and spun around by Johnny, who slammed his fist into his face, knocking the unsuspecting teen to the side and into the other row of lockers.

Silence fell.

Johnny was breathing in anger and Curly seemed to be trying to get over his shock of just being hit.

Then suddenly he launched himself at Johnny with a snarl, his own fist landing in the black-haired boy's face. They landed on the ground, punching each other and fighting viciously, while the other kids standing around began shouting in excitement.

Sodapop and Ponyboy came running over when they heard the commotion and saw Johnny and Curly rolling on the floor.

"Help him, Soda!" Pony yelled.

Just then Johnny gained the upper hand and began pounding on Curly's chest and stomach.

"Which one?" Soda replied.

Finally, the gym teacher Mr. Jones came rushing into the locker room when he heard the noise and pulled the two fighting teens apart, taking them out into the hall, and yelling to everyone else to get dressed.

When he was done changing, Ponyboy was pacing back and forth at his locker waiting for Johnny to get out from the principal's office. He hoped that his friend didn't get in much trouble since it was the first time he had done anything wrong.

Just then Karen came walking over and saw the look of distress on her boyfriends face and wondered what was going on.

"Pony, what's wrong?" She asked as she walked over to him.

"It was Johnny," he sighed. "He got into a fight."

Karen raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Johnny? Johnny got into a fight?"

"Yeah, with Curly Shepard."

Ponyboy then managed to get himself to unlock his locker to take out the necessary books for his next class.

"So, did you want something?" He asked.

"Yeah, I was just thinking that we haven't done anything together in a little while. So, want to go to the movies on Friday night?"

Ponyboy smiled.

"Sure."

"Great."

Karen then leaned forward and kissed Pony on the cheek before turning away when the bell rung and headed to the last class of the day.

Later that evening, long after school had been let out, Johnny was walking around town. Ponyboy had asked him to come over to his house, but he just wasn't in the mood. Slowly making his way down the road, he found himself passing a bar, its neon lights flashing and the sound of music playing loudly. He could hear the wild cheers, laughs, and screams through the dirty glass windows and the ugly brown door. Johnny walked across the street and finally stopped to lean against the wall of some building while pulling a cigarette out from his pocket and lighting it up.

He guessed he was starting to become addicted to these things.

Johnny sighed and blew out a puff of smoke, which blew back into his face as he was facing the direction of a slight breeze. He then jumped in surprise when he heard somebody say;

"Hey kiddo."

Johnny turned around when he heard Dally's voice and smiled a little when he saw him. Dally then stepped up on the sidewalk next to him.

"Hey."

The two of them then began to walk together.

"So, Ponyboy told me you got into a fight today."

"Yeah, with Curly Shepard. He's been messing with me for a little while now."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dally asked. "I would have taken care of it."

"No Dally." Johnny sighed as he threw his cigarette down. "It was my problem. I can take care of myself you know."

"Yeah, I know. So how much trouble did you get into?"

"I got suspended for the rest of the week."

"This is the first time you ever got in trouble and you got suspended?"

"The principal said our behavior was unacceptable," Johnny sighed. "That is didn't matter who started it, it didn't make it right for what had happened."

The two of them then walked through the door of an abandoned warehouse, just behind the train tracks.

"You know what?" Johnny continued. "I don't think I'm gonna go back."

Dally then stopped walking, a little shocked after he said that.

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean...I've never liked school anyway. I always get low C's and D's. My parents won't care if I stop going."

Dally didn't respond as Johnny stopped walking as well and picked up a rock.

"You don't mind do you?"

"Why would I mind? I ain't your Dad. And I don't go to school either."

Johnny nodded and then threw the rock he had in his hand up at one of the windows, which shattered upon contact. Dally jumped when he heard the sound of the glass breaking, not expecting Johnny to do that.

"Nice shot." He complimented.

"Come on, this is fun." Johnny grinned as he picked up another rock and threw it at another window.

Dally shook his head and picked up a rock, pitching it at one of the windows which broke out. He grinned when the sound of shattering glass filled his ears. They continued for another minute or two before they heard some one shout;

"Hey! What the hells going on here god damn it!"

They turned around to see some fat guy in dirty blue overalls running down the steps of the warehouse.

"Time to go." Dally said.

Both boys began running and headed out of the backway.

"Come back here you little bastards!"

But Johnny and Dally didn't stop as they continued running down the railroad tracks as the man kept yelling and cursing at them.


	17. Within Temptation

XXXXXX

Waking up Friday morning, Ponyboy got out of bed and did his daily routine while not really thinking about anything. That was until he picked up his algebra book and realized he didn't get to finish his homework last night.

He was up all night working on his history project since Cherry wasn't able to come to the library yesterday because she had cheerleading practice.

'Damn, when I am gonna be able to do this?' Pony thought to himself as he pulled on his shirt. He had English first, maybe he could just hurry through today's assignment and get his math done when he was all finished and had nothing to do. He usually finished before the rest of the class anyway.

He quickly headed out of his room and was about to turn the corner to head downstairs when he nearly ran into his Dad who was carrying a bowl of soup in his hands.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to." Pony apologized when he saw that a little bit of broth had gotten on his Dad's shirt.

"Its okay, Pony." Darryl assured. "I was just brining this to your brother. He's staying home today."

"Soda? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he just has a fever. Run along now, you don't want to be late for school."

"Yes sir, see you later." Ponyboy said as he ran down the steps and out the door, almost forgetting his backpack in the process.

Ponyboy walked down the sidewalk for a few minutes before arriving at Will Rogers High School. Heading over to his locker when he was inside the building he took his backpack off his shoulders and turned it over and the contents inside spilled out because it wasn't zipped up all the way.

"Damn," he cursed as he leaned down to pick his books up.

"Ponyboy?"

He looked up when he heard somebody say his name. Cherry Valance was standing in front of him, her usual sweet smile on her face.

"Hey," he responded nervously when he saw her. She looked really good today, wearing a black skirt and a yellow sweater.

"Hi. I just wanted to apologize for not being able to work on the project with you. We got three new cheers we had to work on yesterday."

"It's okay Cherry."

"No, it's not. I know you've got things to do as well. So I was thinking I'd make it up to you. How about we go somewhere to eat after school? It's on me."

"Uh…sure." Pony said, blinking in surprise of her offer and forgetting that he had already promised Karen he would go to the movies with her after school today.

"Great." Cherry smiled. "Then it's a date."

A date?

Ponyboy didn't say another word as he watched Cherry walk away. It was only when she turned the corner and he couldn't see her anymore did he suddenly remember he already had plans after school with Karen.

He quickly got everything together for his first class before heading up the stairs to find Karen before the bell rang and class started. Pony looked around and finally found her standing by a row of lockers with several other girls. Rushing over towards her, he was able to get her attention and she seperated herself from her friends and walked over to him.

"Pony? What are you doing up here?"

"Karen, something has come up."

She looked at him in surprise.

"What?"

"I have to work on my history project with my partner."

"Again?"

"Yeah, sh...uh, my partner was busy the other day and wasn't able to meet me at the library. I had to work on it by myself last night."

"So why don't you tell him to work on it on his own today? That way you both have done an equal amount of work?" Karen asked.

Pony looked down at the floor and bit his lip. If only things were that simple.

"I can't do that," he finally replied.

Karen sighed in frustration.

"Pony, its been a while since you and I have done anything together."

"I know," he said, starting to feel guilty. "I promise we'll go to the movies on Saturday, okay?"

"Alright."

Ponyboy leaned down and gave Karen a kiss on the cheek just as the bell went off.

"See you later." Pony then turned around to head back downstairs to go to his first class.

XXXXXXXXX

After the day was over and everybody left the school when the final bell of the day rang, Ponyboy met up with Cherry at the student parking lot. She started up the car and began to drive to the destination of some restaurant in town.

Meanwhile at the Dingo, Two-Bit was standing outside taking a break, his second day at his new job. Outside with him was a boy his age named Kevin who trained him yesterday. The two of them were getting along pretty well.

"Oh man, this is so crappy for my first job." Two-Bit said as he lean back against the building.

"What would you rather be doing?" Kevin responded.

"I don't know. What kind of job can you do from your house?"

"I'm not sure."

Two-Bit then looked over when he noticed that an older man and woman, who looked to be in their early forties leaving the joint and heading to their car.

"Hey you!" Two-Bit yelled at the couple as they got into their car. "You are a killer of pigs! No more hamburgers! No humburgers for you!"

"Two-Bit, shut up!" Kevin said as the couple looked at them in bewilderment. Two-Bit grinned after Kevin said that. He had only known him for two days and he was already using his nickname to refer to him.

"Hey, you two!" The manager yelled while opening the back door and sticking his head out. "The breaks over, I need you both back in here!"

"What do you think we're going to do now?" Two-Bit asked as he walked back in.

"I don't know, but you're probably going to be wearing a Dunce hat before the end of the day."

Just as the two boys headed back into the kitchen, Cherry pulled her Sting Ray into the parking lot and she and Ponyboy exited the car, walking up the door and going inside.

"Thanks for coming with me today, sorry about the location. The Dingo was all I could find at such short notice." Cherry said as they took a seat at a table.

"Don't worry about it. My buddies and I come here all the time."

"Oh."

Just then a waitress came over to them and sat two menus down

"Can I get you both something to drink?" She asked.

"Sweet tea." Cherry said.

"Sweet tea." Pony echoed.

After a minute the waitress came back with their drinks and took out her pad and pencil.

"So, are you ready to order?"

"Garden burger." Cherry responded.

"Cheese burger." Pony said.

The waitress wrote down the orders and took their menus.

"Your food will be right out."

When she left, Ponyboy took a nervous sip of his drink when he noticed Cherry was now staring at him.

"Hey Pony, I was just wondering. You are related to Sodapop Curtis, aren't you?"

"Yeah. He's my brother."

"I thought so. You two look so much alike."

Ponyboy smiled as he looked down at the table after the compliment. He couldn't help it, but his ears were starting to turn red because he knew how good looking Soda was, and really didn't think he looked anything like his older brother.

Back in the kitchen, the cooks had just gotten the two orders and began preparing the food.

"Garden burger? Who the hell ordered a garden burger?" Two-Bit asked out loud.

"Probably some girl." Kevin responded.

"A girl, huh? I wonder if she's a blonde."

Two-Bit then walked out of the kitchen to the lobby to see if he could guess which one ordered it. He kept looking around until he saw a hot red head...sitting across from Ponyboy.

What the hell was Pony doing here? Especially with a girl like that? Karen had told him before she left that she and Pony were going to see a movie after school.

After a few minutes, the burgers were ready and they were sat down on the ledge ready for a waitress to pick them up.

"Hey, if you don't mind. I'll take their food out to them myself." Two-Bit said, now getting angerier by the second. If Ponyboy was cheating on his kid sister he would rip him to pieces.

"Here you are," he said as he sat down the plate in front of the girl. Just then, Ponyboy froze when he heard his voice. He looked up at his buddy in shock, completly forgetting that he had just gotten a job here.

Two-Bit then narrowed his eyes as he sat the other plate down.

"And here you are."

"Thank you." Cherry said.

"Your welcome. Enjoy your meal." Two-Bit said while putting his hand on Ponyboy' shoulder and squeezing hard. So hard that Pony actually began to wince in pain before Two-Bit finally walked away.

Ponyboy looked down at his plate and felt his appetite leave him.

He knew he was in deep trouble.

"Pony? Are you alright?" Cherry asked when she noticed his expression.

"Yeah." Pony managed to say and then swallowed nervously. "I'm fine."


	18. Dumping Your Girl

XXXXXX

Two-Bit had never felt so mad in his life, not ever. He had trouble concentrating throughout the rest of his shift, even long after Ponyboy had left with that girl. He couldn't believe that somebody he knew for such a long time would do this to his little sister. Every time he thought about it he wanted to tear Ponyboy into little pieces.

When he was finally done, he clocked out and drove home from the Dingo, parking his car in the driveway of the house. Before he could walk up to the front door, he heard a familiar voice call out his name.

"Hey Two-Bit!"

He looked over and saw Ponyboy approaching him. Two-Bit turned his head slightly and when Pony got closer, he balled up his fist and threw it, punching him right in the mouth sending him stumbling backwards.

"What the hell?" Pony yelled, holding his jaw

"That's what I was just about to ask _you_, you asshole!"

"Let me explain!"

"That would be a good idea. Why don't you start by telling me who that girl was that your where with. On the day you were suppose to be going to the movies with Karen!"

Pony looked at the house, worried that Karen was inside and might be able hear them. He signaled Two-Bit to start walking with him, which he begrudgingly did.

"The girl you saw me with is my partner I got for a project in my history class." Pony began.

"Wait, that girl is your partner?" Two-Bit interrupted.

"You know I have a history partner?"

"Yeah, Karen mentioned to me how much time you've been spending with your partner after school. She didn't know that it was a girl, and that you were cheating on her!"

After that, Two-Bit grabbed the collar of Ponyboy's shirt about to hit him again, but he was able to wrestle out of his grasp.

"I did not cheat on her!"

"What do you call it?"

"Listen, she asked me to go out for lunch with her after school today that's all. Any other time I've been with her has been at the library working on our project, I swear. I just didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"If it wasn't that big a deal, why didn't you tell Karen?" Two-Bit asked.

"Because..." Pony thought and then looked down at the ground, feeling a little ashamed. "Because I like this girl. And I think she likes me too."

"You like this girl?"

"I just didn't know what to do. I still like Karen and everything but...I don't know."

When he looked back up, he was surprised to see that instead of looking angry or upset, Two-Bit's expression softened a little and he exhaled deeply.

As much as he wanted to be mad right now, he remembered that Ponyboy was a fifteen year old kid, and Karen was the very first girlfriend he ever had. He knew what it was like to be his age, curious about other girls. Two-Bit himself had a ton of different girlfriends before he met Kathy and finally settled down.

Ponyboy was always like the little brother he never had. And whenever he got into serious trouble, he always had his back. But this time, it was his love life that was in trouble, and even though he was still mad, Two-Bit did his best to calm down, and try to help him out with this too.

"So, do you want to break up with Karen?" He finally asked.

"No, I'm not saying that..." Pony began, than stopped.

He then took a deep breath before he continued, sounding frustrated when he spoke again.

"You see this is why I didn't want to go out with Karen in the first place, because I knew something like this would happen one day. So what, I've got to stay with her for the rest of my life? I've got to marry her now?"

Two-Bit shook his head.

"Calm down Pony. If you want to be with this other girl...that's fine. But, you've got to break things off with Karen first. That's the only decent thing to do. You don't string someone along."

"But, she'll hate me..."

"No she won't. She'll hate you if you keep seeing that other girl behind her back and she finds out about it. She might be a little upset at first, but she'll get over it. You guys have been friends for a long time now, that won't change. Trust me."

Ponyboy nodded and looked at Two-Bit. Right now he sounded just as wise and sure as Darry ever had been.

"Alright. I'll do it tomorrow."

XXXXXX

The very next day, it was Saturday afternoon and Ponyboy met up with Karen around one o' clock and they walked down to the movie theater together, just as they planned. However, when Karen began talking, Pony couldn't focus on what she was saying, and when he got to his seat and the movie began he couldn't concentrate on that either. His mind was only on one thing...breaking up with Karen. And it was probably going to be the hardest thing he had ever had to do.

After about a half hour had past, he felt himself being poked.

"Ponyboy?" Karen poked his shoulder again. "Hey Pony, you still alive?"

He was then brought out of his thoughts and realized the movie was coming to an end.

Ponyboy looked around and up quickly at Karen, his eyes wide.

"What, did you daydream throughout the whole movie?" She asked as she pushed Pony's left shoulder gently, while Pony forced a smile.

He was nervous; standing up, hands still in his pockets, Ponyboy riffled about for a cigarette, he needed one bad at that moment. Karen furrowed her brows at her boyfriends rushed nature.

"What's wrong?" Karen asked him as Ponyboy pulled his cigarette pack out of his jean jacket's pocket and lit it, taking a long drag.

"Nothing." He responded and looked back at Karen. "I didn't like that movie."

Once they were outside, Ponyboy shoved his hands into his pockets while looking down at the ground. Karen knew that he did this whenever he felt uncomfortable, or didn't know what to say.

"What is it?" Karen asked, not waiting for him to say anything. "You're acting so weird."

"Karen…just hear me out okay?"

"You haven't even said anything yet," she responded with a small laugh.

Pony nodded.

"I know, I just don't want you to get upset about this. I mean, what I'm about to say."

Karen furrowed her brows slightly.

"What are you about to say?"

"It's just…Karen, you know I care about you…I love you, I really do. We've been friends for years, but I just don't think that this relationship is going anywhere."

She straightened up as she quickly understood what he was saying.

"So, you're breaking up with me?" She asked, swallowing hard.

He looked at her but couldn't get himself to say anything. Karen frowned and looked down at her feet.

"I kinda figured you were going to. You've been avoiding me, and not talking to me as much. So I figured that something was wrong."

"Karen," Pony was about to bring his hand up to touch her arm but stopped himself. "Please, will you look at me?"

Karen briefly brought her eyes to meet his, like looking at them for too long would burn.

"I'm here, okay? When ever you need me. I'll always be your friend. Okay?"

Karen's gaze shifted to the cars in sitting in the parking lot. She was staring at them as if her life depended on it, but she couldn't really see them. Finally, she looked back at Ponyboy.

"Thanks."

Ponyboy bit his lip as he stepped next to her and they made the uncomfortable walk back to the Mathews house. Neither one spoke, Pony tried as hard as he could to make the walk to the house without looking at her, but he couldn't help it.

He took a quick look over and thankful saw that she wasn't crying. Once they reached the house Pony cleared his throat.

"Well...I see you later."

Karen nodded but didn't respond as she walked up to the house and through the front door. Ponyboy watched her the whole way before looking down and frowning a little before turning away and heading to his house.


	19. Under the Influence

XXXXXX

Buck Merrill woke up late in the afternoon with a pretty bad headache. Another night, another wild party, and this time around he got a little carried away with the alcohol when it was approaching two in the morning. He sat up on the couch while rubbing his temples, knowing that in a few hours another one would begin.

A few seconds after he got to his feet there was a knock on the front door. Buck poked his head around the corner with a brow raised, since nobody ever knocked on the door before coming in.

When he walked over and opened it, he was greeted by a young kid who looked to be in early teen years.

"What?" Buck asked.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Johnny replied.

"I'm good…is there something I can do for you?"

Johnny smiled a little as he looked at the ground.

"You don't remember me?"

Buck gave him a quizzical look as he tried to think. After a few moments, he just shook his head.

"Refresh my memory, kid."

"You took me to the hospital, to visit Dally after the rodeo that night."

"Oh yeah." Buck laughed. "Sorry, I get hit in the head a lot. So what do ya want?"

"I just came to see Dally. I heard I could find him here."

"Yeah he's here." Buck stepped aside to let Johnny in. "Head up the stairs, his room is the first door on the right."

Upstairs in his room, Dally was sitting on the edge of the bed lacing his boots up when a knock on the door got his attention.

"Come in."

The door opened a little and Johnny stuck his head in.

"Johnny?" Dally said, surprised to see him here.

"Hey." Johnny walked into the room and shut the door behind him. "I heard that I could find you at this place."

"Well, you found me."

Dally threw on his leather jacket and then put a pack of cigarettes in the pocket.

"So this is where you stay?" Johnny asked while looking around the room. "What is this place?"

"Buck owns it. It's kind of a bar and wild parties go on around here just about every night. He rents out rooms on the second floor to make some extra money."

"You don't stay with your parents?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Kid, what's with all the questions? Why were you looking for me anyway?"

"I was just headed to the Curtis house." Johnny answered while lowering his eyes. "I just wondering if you want to come along."

"Yeah, sure. I ain't got nothing else to do."

The two of them headed outside and took a short cut through the park when they came across three little kids sitting in the grass playing some kind of card game. Dally smirked when he saw them and decided to have a little fun.

"Hey!" He yelled, getting their attention. "Did I say you could play on my grass?"

Their eyes widened in fear when they saw him standing only a few inches from them.

"No." One of the them responded, nervously.

"Give me those cards." Dally ordered and snatched them when the kids held them out. He looked and grinned at Johnny who was watching him with a bit of amusement in his eyes, wondering what he was going to do. "Ever play 52 pick up?" He asked the kids.

"Yeah."

"What? Hey, don't get wise." He glared down at the kids. "I don't like little kids...I don't like em'."

Dally then tossed the cards up in the air.

"Get out of here! I'm gonna kill you!"

The kids got up and ran for their lives as Dally and Johnny ran after them. They soon came to stop, both breathing heavy when the little kids were now out of sight. Johnny started chuckling quietly to himself.

"Well, that was kinda fun."

"Yeah, let's keep going." Dally said and the two of them continued to walk through the park. After a minute or two went by, a question then came to Johnny's head.

"Hey Dally...you wouldn't really do anything to those kids would you?"

Dally looked over and gave him a grin.

"Let's keep going." He repeated.

Back at the Curtis house, Sodapop and Steve were sitting across from each other at the coffee table arm wrestling while Ponyboy sat on the couch in front of the television, waiting for a movie to come on. He was still feeling a little depressed and guilty for breaking things up with Karen yesterday.

Before they started dating last year, the two of them were really good friends and Ponyboy was worried that all might change now that they weren't together anymore. He also wondered if his relationship with Two-Bit would change.

"Hey Pony." Steve spoke up after he slammed Soda's hand down. "Did you make your move on Cherry Valance yet?"

"None of your business."

"That's a no."

"Unlike you, I don't feel the need to talk about personal things like that."

"That's a definite no."

Ponyboy glared at him.

"I'm taking my time. It's not like I can just go up to her and say "Hi, would you like to go out with me?"

"Sure you can, Pony." Soda said. "You're a handsome kid, I bet you she'd say yes."

Steve then got up and put his hands on either side of Ponyboy's face and began pinching his cheeks.

"You're so cute!" He said as he made baby noises. "I know, you can show her your baby photo albums. I bet you that will make her swoon!"

Soda began laughing as Ponyboy pulled Steve's hands off his face and then began rubbing his now sore cheeks as he glared at them both.

"Okay Steve." Soda said while putting his elbow up on the coffee table. "One last time."

"Oh come on, I just beat you three straight times."

"Yeah, but this time I'll be more motivated." Soda dug through his pocket before pulling out a five dollar bill and placed it on the table. "Winner gets five bucks."

"Easiest money I've ever made." Steve laughed while taking out his own five dollars and put it with the other money. He put his elbow down on the table as well and they locked hands as tight as possible.

"Ready...set...go!"

They both strained at they tired to pin the other's arm down. Ponyboy then leaned down when it looked like Steve was about to win again and dug his fingers into his sides, tickling him in order to distract him.

Steve yelled out in surprise and started laughing. Soda used the opportunity to his advantage and was finally able to slam his best friend's hand down.

"I won!" Soda yelled while picking up the money. Steve on the other hand looked shocked for a moment before turning his head to glare at Ponyboy who smiled at him in return. Steve then jumped up and grabbed Pony in a headlock, pulling him down to the floor.

"Soda! Help out!" Pony yelled while trying to fight Steve off.

"Sorry, Pony. I think I'll sit this one out."

"Soda!"

Steve meanwhile twisted his arm behind his back as he pushed him down and sat on his back. He then forced Ponyboy's face into the rug.

"Cry uncle."

"You wish."

Steve pressed harder, digging one of his knees in Ponyboy's back.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you."

"I said, no."

Steve then dug his fingers in Ponyboy's side, making him shriek in laughter.

The front door then opened and Dally and Johnny walked in. Dally looked at the scene before him and raised an eyebrow.

"Is this a bad time?" He asked.

Ponyboy finally gave up and Steve got up off him. Soda went to the kitchen and got popcorn and chips to eat while Pony got Pepsi's for everyone. They all sat down in the living room as the movie 'Fantasia' was about to start any minute now.

Johnny took the cap off his soda as he sat down but it shook a little in the process and some of it spilled out and onto his shirt.

"Shit."

"Johnny!" Soda said in fake shock while putting his hand on his chest. "Did you just use the 'S' word?"

Johnny smiled as he picked up a napkin to clean himself off while the others just laughed.

"I wonder where he could have learned that kind of language?" Steve asked while looking over at Dally.

"Bite me, Randle."


	20. Yesterday's Promise

XXXXXX

It was only five minutes in when Dally couldn't take anymore of this corny Disney shit and got up from his seat heading out of the living room and out to the backyard, because he needed a cigarette and knew how the Curtis' felt about smoke in the house.

He took out his lighter and lit up as he leaned back against the house, looking up at the sky. It was a clear night with the sky bright with stars and a nearly full moon. He then started thinking about Johnny, and him cursing just a little while ago.

He didn't care that he had cussed, they all did. But it was more than that. It really seemed like Johnny was becoming one of them now; he smoked, got into fights, caused trouble, and had even told Dally that he wasn't going back to school tomorrow even through his suspension was over. All of this was just causing Dally to think a little...that Johnny was seeing the way he was and was beginning to think that was the right way to be.

Dally didn't know how to tell Johnny that being like him would be the worst thing for Johnny to do.

"You're not watching the movie?"

Dally jumped, startled and looked over to see Linda standing by the fence, arms crossed over her chest and looking up at the sky like he had been. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed she was there.

"Sorry…I didn't know anyone was out here." Dally said.

"You're allowed to be out here." Linda responded, shrugging.

Smirking a little, Dally blew out a puff of smoke.

"So, where's Mr. Curtis?"

"He's asleep. I think he caught the flu Sodapop had."

"That's too bad."

Linda then turned her head to look at him.

"Are you okay? You look like you have something on your mind."

"Fine."

"You sure?"

Dally nodded.

If he wanted to say anymore he would, but Linda wasn't going to force anything out of him. She wanted Dally to open up to her on his own, when he was comfortable. After getting done with the cigarette, Dally threw it to the ground and crushed it with his foot. Then, after taking a deep breath he spoke again.

"It's just that…" he began, "Johnny has been hanging around me a lot lately. I'm just worried that he's pickin' up some of my…bad habits."

"What bad habits?" Linda asked.

Dally rolled his eyes.

"Well, let's just say habits that make me far from being a role model."

Linda then began walking away from the fence, towards him.

"Dallas, you're not a bad person."

He looked over and felt his heart rate begin to pick up when she got closer. For the life of him, Dally didn't understand why he felt this way about a person over twice his age.

"Oh yeah?" He asked quietly. "What am I then?"

Smiling a little, Linda looked down at the ground then back up at Dally before answering.

"You're a very good person…who bad things have happened to." She began. "I've seen the way you are with Johnny, you care a lot for him, even if you won't admit it. In fact, you telling me that you don't want him picking up your habits shows just how much you do care."

After she finished talking, Dally and Linda just watched each other, Linda didn't continue and Dally didn't say anything. After a few moments, she moved towards the door.

"Good night, Dallas."

After she went into the house, Dally continued to stand outside for another few minutes before turning around and heading back inside.

"Where have you been Dally? You're missing the movie." Ponyboy said when he came back into the room.

"I'm leaving." He simply responded while walking to the front door.

"Why?" Johnny asked.

"Not my kind of movie. I'll see you guys later."

He headed back to Buck's place and was currently laying in bed trying to sleep while trying to block out the loud Hank Williams music from downstairs. Dally sighed deeply and rolled over, closing his eyes and began to think about something from a few years ago.

_Dally walked down the streets of Queens deciding to ditch school today. He wasn't sure where he was going to do, but didn't care as long as he didn't have to sit inside of a classroom all day, listening to some boring teacher go on and on._

_He was about to walk up to the apartment complex he lived at with his parents when he heard somebody yell out his name._

_"Hey Dallas!"_

_He looked over and saw a friend of his, Anthony DeBlasis running up to him. Dally knew him for about a year now and hadn't seen him since he got in trouble for bringing a blade to school about a week ago. _

_"So what happened? After you got caught?" Dally asked._

_"Ah, I got expelled and have to do community service all year, ever Sunday." _

_"Tough break."_

_Anthony nodded before an idea came to his head._

_"Hey, how about we throw a party tonight?"_

_Dally shrugged._

_"Why not?"_

_Later that afternoon, everyone gathered at "The Edge", a place a lot of gang members hung out and people were passing beer around, and the heavy smell of smoke filled the air. Music was playing loudly and one guy had a girl up against the wall and was kissing her neck._

_"Here," someone handed Dally a beer which he opened and began drinking. Although he was only eleven, an eleven year old who grew up on the streets was more like sixteen. As he walked through the crowd, trying to find a seat, Anthony came up to him with a big grin on his face._

_"Hey buddy, good news. There's a girl here who really wants to meet you."_

_Dally smirked a little as he began following him until they reached a couch where a girl with long dark hair sat. She looked about a year older than him and was wearing too much eye makeup and a ripped up black shirt. _

_"Hello sugar," the girl greeted. "So you're Dallas Winston? I've heard a lot about you."_

_"Call me Dally," he said while sitting down next to her. "What's your name?"_

_"Natalie," she said flatly._

_Then out of nowhere she leaned forward and kissed him. _

_He began kissing back and she slipped her hands under his shirt. They both continued until a loud bang caused them both to jump and separate, looking around for the noise._

_Everybody inside the place scattered as several police officers came in. They ran out the back way and climbed through the windows, but many of them were caught. Dally was one of them._

_"Against the wall both of you. Hands behind your back." The cop ordered._

_Dally stood against the wall while he was searched for weapons. After that, handcuffs were clasped over his wrists. _

_"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law." _

Dally opened his eyes after he stopped thinking about that day in New York. The first time he was arrested, when he was only eleven years old.

He was scared that time, but never again. After that night he began a journey down a bad road he never got off from. He didn't want the same thing to happen to Johnny.

While Dally continuing thinking about his past days, Johnny made his way back home after finishing watching the movie at the Curtis house. Ponyboy asked him to stay the night, but he declined. Apparently his Dad finally found a job, and over the past few nights he was so tired when he arrived home he went straight to bed. Johnny no longer had to worry about seeing him and he hoped that this would continue for a while. His Mom was probably still at her night job.

When he walked into the house, Johnny went to the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator, taking out the pitcher of water. He sat it down on the counter but it ended up pushing a plastic cup off, which fell to the floor.

Johnny knelt down to pick it up when the door slammed open. His head jerked up as his Dad came into the kitchen, cursing up a storm.

Before Johnny could go anything he was grabbed and pulled up to his feet. His father's eyes were blazing with anger as he stared down at him.

"You little bastard! This is all your fault!"

Johnny looked at him, bewildered. He could tell that his father had been drinking.

"I just got fired! Now I'm gonna teach you a lesson!"

Frank then pulled him out into the hallway. Johnny struggled to get away but that only caused him to get smacked in the head.

He continued to get dragged over until Frank stopped at the hall closet, pulled it open and took out a two-by-four.


	21. Cherry's Consignment

XXXXXX

Monday morning breakfast at the Curtis house was usually very quiet, and today was no different as they all gathered in the kitchen to eat. Dad was having his coffee as usual, apparently he felt a lot better today and Mom was standing by the stove, finishing cooking. Ponyboy was extremely tired because his history project was due today and he had to work on it late last night when the movie ended, because Cherry called and told him she didn't time to finish up her part over the weekend.

Ponyboy plopped down at the table as his Mom sat down a big plate of pancakes. Sodapop sat across from him, and immediately started piling as much food onto his plate as he could. Pony couldn't help but let out a small chuckle after his Mom said something about Soda being a pig.

After a few minutes of eating, Soda finished up, said goodbye to everyone and headed out the door, most likely to catch a ride to school with Steve.

Pony finished up drinking a glass of orange juice before getting together his things, threw on his jacket and left the house, beginning to walk down the sidewalk.

Beep!

He jumped when heard a car's horn and spun around in surprise to see Two-Bit's car behind him.

"Hey Pony!" He called out. "Get in!"

Finally able to get his legs moving again after just standing there for a few seconds, Pony went over to the window of the passenger door.

"Two-Bit? What are you doing?"

"I figured I'd give you a ride to school. Just like the good ol' days."

He nodded and smiled a little as he opened the door, getting inside as Two-Bit pulled away from the curb and began driving to the destination of Will Rogers High School. Pony stared nervously at his feet for a minute before looking over at his buddy. As Two-Bit stopped when the light turned red, he spoke up.

"Hey…you and I, we're cool right?"

Two-Bit turned his head to look at him, seeming surprised Pony just asked that.

"Yeah."

Pony smiled again, this time of relief.

"How's Karen doing?" He asked.

"She's fine."

"I still feel a little guilty about breaking up with her."

"Don't be." Two-Bit sighed. "You can't help it if you start to like somebody else. The good thing is that you broke things off with Karen first before you started foolin' around with this other girl. If you hadn't, you would have been in serious trouble."

"Thanks for your help."

"Don't mention it. Sorry I hit you the other day." Two-Bit said as he turned his head and saw that Ponyboy still had a faint bruise on his lower jaw.

"It's okay. I guess I kinda deserved it."

"No you didn't."

Two-Bit hadn't noticed the light had turned green until the car behind them had beeped. He stepped on the gas and drove straight for a moment before turning left, the school then came into view.

"So, how's your job going?" Pony asked.

"It's not that bad. You get use to everything pretty quick."

Nodding, Pony smiled a little. That was the same thing he told Karen about high school on her first day. He kept listening as Two-Bit continued.

"You know, as much as I hate to admit it, I think my Mom was right. I was scared at first, about gettin' a job."

Ponyboy looked over at his friend with his eye brows raised, surprised that he had just admitted that.

"What was there to be scared about?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I guess it's cause I started to realize that I wasn't a kid anymore. It wasn't that long ago when I use to wake up everyday to come here, now I'm twenty and I wake up everyday to go to work."

While Ponyboy didn't respond, he understood what he was saying. Two-Bit was now working, Darry had graduated and was now going to college, Karen was in high school now, and Sodapop and him were in the eleventh grade and would be seniors next year. It all goes by so fast.

He was so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed that Two-Bit had stopped the car in front of the school.

"Okay kiddo. Have a nice day at school." Two-Bit then reached over and messed up Ponyboy's hair, but unlike all the other times, Pony didn't mind it.

"Thanks for the ride." He said as he got out of the car.

"Don't mention it. See you later."

Ponyboy watched for a few seconds as Two-Bit drove off before throwing his backpack over his shoulder and walked through the doors, ready for another day of school.

XXXXXXX

Going from class to class as the hours went by, it was now time for history and Ponyboy knew that he had to present his project in front of the whole class. He always hated doing oral presentations, it always made him nervous but he felt a little better this time around knowing that Cherry would be right up there with him, having to do her share of the talking as well.

When Mrs. Varone announced the first pair to present first, he tried his best to pay attention but couldn't focus on what either of his fellow classmates were saying. Pony knew he couldn't shake the nervousness off until he went up there and got it over with.

After three more groups went, Ponyboy's heart rate quickened when the teacher said the next two names;

"Ponyboy Curtis and Sherri Valance. It's your turn to present next."

He slowly got up from his seat as he and Cherry walked to the front of the classroom and now everyone's eyes were now on them. Pony handed her the project and she began speaking.

"We did our project on the droping of the Atomic Bomb." Cherry said in a clear and loud voice. Pony looked over at her, surprised that she didn't look or sound nervous at all. He kept listening to her until her part was done and it was now time for him to speak.

"Americans estimated that 4.7 square miles of Hiroshima was destoryed." Pony began after clearing his throat. "Anywere between 70,000 and 80,000 people were killed immediately, and another 70,000 were injured. Most had been in the downtown area which received the greatest damage."

After they finally got done, the class appluded and Pony sighed in relief that it was over with. They walked over to the teacher as Ponyboy placed the assignment in a folder and handed it to her.

"That was a terrific presentation you two. Very well done." Mrs. Varone said.

"Thank you Mrs. Varone." Cherry smiled. "We worked really hard on it."

Ponyboy slowly turned to his head and looked at her, a little bemused by her statement. He felt like he did a lot more work on this project then she had done.

After the bell rang, Ponyboy stood at his locker getting ready to go down to the cafeteria for lunch but his mind was still on Cherry. Now that the project was over with they weren't going to be spending anymore time together, and history was the only class he had with her. If he wanted to ask her out he needed to do it today before she forgot all about him.

Suddenly, he felt himself being tapped on the shoulder and he turned around, and to his surprise, it was Cherry standing behind him.

"Hey."

"Ponyboy, could you do something for me please?" She asked.

He looked into her emerald green eyes and couldn't help but want to help her, with whatever it was she asked.

"What is it?"

Cherry then pointed to a boy down the end of the hall, leaning against another row of lockers, holding a black book in his hand. She explained to him that he had taken it out of her locker and refused to give it back to her. Ponyboy wasn't sure about this but he walked up to him. The boy was a lot bigger than him and Pony didn't know if he could take him on his own. Plus he didn't want to get into trouble either.

He slouched down, and hooked his thumbs in his pockets, trying to look as tough as he could as the other boy noticed him.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Give that back to her."

His demand was met by a smirk as the taller boy looked him up and down.

"Who's going to make me? You?"

"What if I am?" Ponyboy responded.

Ponyboy felt his stomach tighten after that as the boy narrowed his eyes. Before he could do anything the boy grabbed him by the throat and slammed him hard against the lockers, hard.

The wind was then knocked out of him when he was punched in the stomach and fell to his knees, gasping for air.

"Alright Jake, that's enough."

Pony glanced up while trying to get his wind back to see Cherry walked closer to the boy she called Jake, and she had a smile on her face.

"Fine." Jake said and looked down at him. "From now on, you stay away from my girl. Or next time I'll put you in the hospital."

Jake then walked up to Cherry and threw his arm around her shoulders and they began to walk away, both laughing as Ponyboy sat on the floor in shock.


	22. No Way Out

XXXXXX

After regaining his wits and picking himself up off the floor, Ponyboy was currently sitting in the cafeteria trying to understand what the hell just happened. He was sitting at a table with Sodapop and Steve and had just told them the whole thing. Soda gave him a look of complete sympathy when he finished talking while Steve on the other hand started laughing his ass off.

"I'm glad you think this is funny, Steve." Ponyboy said while glaring at the boy across from him.

"I'm sorry buddy, but it is."

"Shut up, Steve." Soda said while lightly hitting him on the shoulder and then looked back at Pony. "Tough break, kiddo."

"I just don't get it. She was completely flirting with me every time we were together."

"Girls are strange like that, Pony. Just make sure to point her boyfriend out after school and we'll take care of him for you."

"That it! Her boyfriend! He probably found out about all the time we were spending together and stopped her from meeting me to work on the project. That's why she stopped showing up."

"Pony, did you ever stop and think that she was flirting with you so you would do all of the work on the project so she wouldn't have to?" Steve asked.

Ponyboy stared straight ahead at nothing, that idea never occured to him.

"That's right my friend. She played you like a Hawaiian on a ukulele."

"No...she wouldn't have done that."

"Pony, you just told us she started laughing after her boyfriend kicked your ass."

"I didn't get my ass kicked!" Ponyboy said, a little too defensively. "It was one punch to the stomach."

Soda and Steve looked at each other and they both started chuckling while Pony rubbed his forehead due to the stress of this situation. He couldn't believe that he actually had broken up with Karen so he could ask Cherry out. He had to get her back.

After the bell rang, instead of heading out of the school, he began walking to where Karen's locker was, thinking of something to say to her. Maybe he would ask her to come to the Dairy Queen with him, it was their favorite place to go to when they decided to hang out. He would talk to her and tell her it was a mistake for him to break up with her and ask her to be his girlfriend again. Pony then began to wonder if he should come clean and tell her about Cherry, and that he like her.

No, big mistake.

He finally caught a glance at Karen by her locker, applying the combination.

"Hi, Karen."

When she heard his voice, she turned her head nodded while smiling and took her backback out of her locker.

"So, are we not allowed to talk anymore?" Pony asked.

"Sorry." Karen smiled while beginning to walk and he walked with her. "Hi, Pony."

"How are things going?"

"Pretty good. Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

"How did your report go?" Karen asked. "I remember you saying you didn't like talking in front of the whole class."

"Pretty good." Pony lied. "It's not so bad once you get up there."

They began approaching the door that led outside to the student's parking lot. When they opened the door and the sunlight hit his face, Pony now felt a lot braver in what he had come to ask her.

"Are you doing anything after school? Because I thought maybe we could head to Dairy Queen, you know, maybe talk a little?"

Before she could answer, somebody yelled out;

"Hey Karen, over here! My brother will give us a ride!"

Ponyboy looked over to see William Kennedy, an old classmate of his standing by a car. William was just a school friend, not a real buddy to him. Karen looked over at him and smiled before looking back at Pony with a sorry look on her face.

"Actually, I already have plans. William asked me out, and I said yes."

"Oh." Pony said while swallowing a knot in his throat. "I uh, I guess I'll see you some other time?"

"Sure."

Karen then turned around and headed to the car, getting into the backseat with William while Ponyboy looked down at the ground, taking a deep breath before turning around and walking back home.

While Pony made the journey to his house, Johnny was waking up in the vacant lot, where he had come to sleep last night. He woke up early in the morning, but just closed his eyes and fell back asleep. Now, his muscles were stiff as he sat up and stretched before pulling his jacket which he used as a pillow, carefully over his sore back. As he got up he realized he had no idea what time it was and decided to head to Buck Merrill's place as that was where Dally most likely was.

When Johnny got there he knocked on the door twice before it was opened by Buck.

"Hey Johnny, nice to see you again." Buck grinned while motioning for him to come in. "You know, you don't have to knock, if the door's open just walk in. That's what everyone else does."

"I'll remember that."

Johnny then walked further in to see Dally laying on the couch with a bottle of Scotch in his hand. He noticed him in between taking a sip of the alcohol.

"Hey, kiddo. Did you skip school today?"

"Yeah." Johnny responded. "I slept all day."

"That's what we did." Buck said.

Dally gave him a look.

"Not with each other, of course."

Johnny laughed a little as he went to sit down at a stool by the bar.

"I'm hungry. Anyone want to go get something to eat? I'm buying." Buck asked while heading to the door.

"Yeah I could eat." Dally said while getting up. "You owe me anyway for sellin' me out to the Brumley Boys."

"What are you talkin' about?"

"You know, telling them I was in the hospital."

"They threatened to tear the place up, what was I suppose to do, let them do it?"

"Exactly."

Buck rolled his eyes and looked over at Johnny.

"Want to come with us?"

"Sure." Johnny shrugged.

"Alright, come on."

As Johnny walked over Buck playfully slapped him on the back, causing a ripple of pain to shoot through his body. Johnny had to do everything in his power not to shout as he grimaced and bit his tongue.

Getting into the T-Bird, Buck drove them all down to a new Chinese food buffet that opened up in town called 'The Red Dragon'. When they arrived and got plates, Dally walked to the sections and looked down at the offerings, not looking very pleased.

"Please explain to me why we couldn't have just ordered pizza?" Dally asked.

"Come on, give it a chance." Buck laughed.

Dally then looked down at a tray labeled 'Chow Mein' and shook his head as Buck put a lot of it on his plate.

"How can you eat that? It looks like it was thrown up first."

Buck shut his eyes.

"Thank you, Dally."

As he walked away, Johnny pointed at something on one of the trays. It looked like some kind of Sushi.

"I'll give you a dollar if you eat that."

"A dollar?" Dally then looked over at Johnny and elbowed him in the ribs. "No, a dollar is hardly worth it."

When they were all done Dally had a few egg roles and fired rice on his plate while Johnny had Sesame chicken and shrimp on his. As they sat down at a table with Buck to eat, ever so often Johnny would look over to watch Dally as he talked with his friend while he remained quiet. After about ten minutes, Buck looked over at him.

"Johnny, don't say a word." He warned, causing Dally to laugh and even a small smile to come to his face. As Buck got up to go get more food, Dally looked over at him and that's when he saw a bright red mark on the back of his neck.

"What's that?" He asked while leaning forward to look closer.

"Nothing." Johnny responded while inching away but Dally went to put a hand on his shoulder to keep him still. "Don't touch my back!"

Dally stopped and looked at him.

"How the hell did you get a mark like that?"

Johnny shut his eyes for a second before answering.

"My old man...last night."

When he looked at Dally, he was more scared by the look on his face than he ever was by his father.

"Dally...it's fine. I'll be alright."

They stay there for about another twenty minutes, but Dally was so mad he couldn't eat anything else. After they all got done, Dally drove the car and dropped Buck off at his place before driving down to the Curtis house to drop Johnny off.

Every so often on the ride there, Johnny would peak over at Dally to see that he still had a look of rage on his face and that he was gripping the steering wheel so hard it was like he was trying to strangle it. When they finally got there, Dally pulled over to the side of the curb and stopped.

"What time does your old man get home from work?" Dally asked, so quiet Johnny barely heard him.

"He got fired the other night. He could be home at any time."

"You said your mom works nights right? She's working tonight isn't she? She won't be home?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, go on." Dally instructed.

Johnny did so and got out of the car, closing the door the door behind him. Before he could walk up to the front door, Dally called him back.

"Hey kid!"

He walked back over and leaned down a little at the window to look at him.

"Stay here tonight." Dally said. "Don't go back to your house, no matter what."

Johnny's brows furrowed and before he could ask Dally what he meant by that, he put the car back in drive and sped away from the Curtis house.


	23. Violence Is Golden

XXXXXX

The thunder rumbled loudly that night with showing no sign of stopping or quieting down. Lightening flashed spectacularly for a brief moment before disappearing and leaving the sky in an endless black night. Rain drops began coming down lightly as more dark clouds continued gathering overhead.

In the driveway of the Cade house, a 1965 Ford Fairlane pulled up rather fast and knocked over a trash can. Laughing, Francis Cade stumbled out of his car and made his way up to the house while rattling the keys in his hand. Turning on the hall light when he got inside, Frank took off his coat and called out to his wife.

"Sarah, I'm home!" He then smirked as he remembered that she worked tonight. "Thanks for the dinner."

Frank then walked over to the little freezer he kept his alcohol in and took out a bottle of beer. After popping the top he walked over and opened the door to his office and saw that it was still a mess inside with papers everywhere and books disorganized. He felt anger boil up inside him as he told Johnny last night to have this cleaned up by the time he got home.

"Johnny!" He yelled while marching to his room. When he threw open the door he looked inside to see nobody in there. "Come out, come out, wherever you are. You've got some explaining to do, you little shit!"

Then, without warning the power was turned off in the house, leaving Mr. Cade in complete darkness. He couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face.

He stumbled down the hall until he reached the kitchen and opened up one of the drawers, pulling out a flashlight. A crash of lightning then went through the sky, lighting up the house for just a second.

"I know what's going on." Frank laughed while turning on the flashlight, pointing it up towards his face. "It must be the boogeyman. Here I come boogeyman, I want you to know that I'm really scared."

Frank kept walking until he reached the laundry room where the circuit breaker was. When he got to it, he was shocked to see that it wasn't the lightning the effected the power, something had switched off the power.

"What the hell shut the power off?" He asked himself as he switched everything back on, which turned on all the lights.

"Me."

Mr. Cade immediately spun around when he heard the voice behind him and was meant by a hard punch to the face, breaking his nose on contact and sending blood spraying everywhere.

Dally glared down at the older man as he fell to his knees, grasping at his face and cursing in pain. He grabbed him by his grey hair, pulling him up and began slamming his face into the circuit breaker, over and over again.

Finally feeling that it was enough, Dally stopped and grabbed Mr. Cade by the back of his shirt, pulling him backwards and tossing him out the door of the laundry room. Frank lost his balance and skidded across the tile floor of the kitchen.

He began coughing as the blood running from his nose entered his mouth. Frank sat up and tried to get a look at his attacker through his dazed eyesight.

"Who the fuck are you?" He managed to say. "What the fuck do you want?"

Dally smirked as he began taking off his belt.

"I've come to teach you a lesson, that's long overdue."

Dally then raised the belt over his head and brought it down, whipping Mr. Cade's back with it. Frank screamed out in pain as the belt cracked over the skin of his back, the shirt he was wearing offering no protection at all. After hitting him with it six more times, Dally then wrapped it across Frank's throat and pulling back, chocking him with it.

"How does that feel, asshole?" Dally seethed as he strangled him. "It probably didn't hurt this much when you were doing it to Johnny."

He finally released him and Mr. Cade gasped for air as his hands went up to his throat. Dally then stomped down on his right hand, causing yet another scream of pain from the other man. Dally smiled sadistically, hoping that he just broke all the fingers on the other man's hand.

Dally then began looking around for a weapon to hit him with until he came across a frying pan sitting on the stove. He picked it up and looked at it. Not his first choice, but it would be effective nonetheless. But before he could hit him with it, Frank quickly launched himself as Dally, tackling him to the ground. Dally was stunned by Mr. Cade's suddenly burst of energy, and felt himself being punched hard in the face and chest.

"You son of a bitch!" Frank yelled as he continued raining down blows on his attacker. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Dally finally regained his bearings and got his forearm up, striking Mr. Cade in the head causing him to fall back. Dally quickly scrambled back up to his feet, stumbling backwards a few steps as he tried to regain his balance.

Mr. Cade was able to get back up too. He charged at the younger man while swinging his fist but Dally moved to quickly and caught his arm, then lunged forward and nailed Mr. Cade with a head butt.

Landing several more punches to Frank's jaw, Dally took his neck in his arms while Mr. Cade's arms flailed wildly, trying to hit him. Dally tenses his arms while Frank yelled out one last time, then snaps his arms to both sides of himself quickly, breaking Mr. Cade's neck in one smooth motion.

Dally stepped back and watched as Mr. Cade's limp body fell face first to the ground. And has he did, only one thought came to his mind.

_'Oh, shit.'_

Dally continued stepping backwards, until his back was against the wall, slowly sliding down it until he was sitting on the floor, his eyes never leaving the sight of Mr. Cade lying motionless on the floor.

He kept waiting for Mr. Cade to leap up, shouting and yelling in anger, trying to attack him again, but he didn't. As his heart rate began to go down, and he no longer felt the rush of adrenaline, the reality of a dead body was now staring Dally in the face.

He had just killed somebody.

Dally had seen people die before, back in New York but he now that he had actually done it himself, he couldn't take his eyes off the body of Johnny's dad. And just then, he began to think about what would happen to him because of this.

_"I'm gonna go to jail. With my record I'll probably get life in prison without parole. I'm screwed…"_

"Mr. Cade! Mrs. Cade! Are you guys okay!"

Dally's head snapped to the side in a panic when he heard somebody yell that from outside. There was a knock at the front door and Dally quickly got to his feet and threw open the back door, running through the grass of the backyard and jumping over the fence. He kept going until he was far away from the scene of the crime.

Outside of the Cade house, their next door neighbor, Lindsay Thomas was standing outside knocking on the door.

She was on the phone, talking to a friend of hers when she heard the noise from the house next to hers. At first she thought it was another argument she began accustom to hearing since the Cade's had moved in last year, but this time it sounded much more serious then Lindsay had ever heard before.

"Mr. Cade!" She called again. "Mrs. Cade? Is everything all right in there?"

Lindsay grabbed the door handle, turning it and saw that it was unlocked. She carefully opened up the door, stepping inside.

"Hello?"

She walked further inside and saw nothing in the living room. Lindsay kept going until she walked into the kitchen, and let out a high pitch scream when she discovered the dead body of Francis Cade.

About an hour later, several police cars and an ambulance had gathered outside of the Cade house. By that time the rain had stopped coming down and all of the people who lived on the block had come outside to see what was going on. The Curtis' were among those outside, looking on. They each knew the house that was, and they kept looking back at Johnny who had stayed the night with them.

Johnny had a bewildered look on his face as he had no idea what had happened inside his house. Darryl Senior then looked down at him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Johnny, maybe you outta wait inside, son."

"No, that's okay. I want to find out what happened." Johnny responded.

After waiting for another couple of minutes, everyone was then stunned when they saw a stretcher being brought out of the house, a person inside of a body bag on top of it. When it was loaded into the ambulance, Johnny convinced Mr. Curtis to go ask one of the cops what happened.

"Excuse me, this is a crime scene." Officer Doyle said when he saw the two of them approaching.

"I live here!" Johnny yelled.

"He was staying with over with my son tonight." Darryl explained. "Could you just tell us what happened?"

"It definitely looks like a homicide." The officer explained while looking at his chart and then down at Johnny. "Francis Cade, is he your father?"

Johnny nodded, nervously.

"I'm very sorry son, but he's dead."

He was stunnded after being told that. Johnny looked down at his feet while Mr. Curtis wrapped his arm around him, trying to comfort him.

"He's really dead?" He asked, quietly.

Officer Doyle frowned.

"I'm afraid so."

Johnny ran his hand through his thick black hair, too shocked to say anymore. Officer Doyle looked down at his chart again before speaking.

"Do you have any idea how we can reach your mother?"

"Uh…yeah, she works nights at the St. John Medical Center. She's does…she does, something there." He stammered.

"I'm very sorry for your loss." The officer said as he patted Johnny on the shoulder. "But don't worry, we'll find whoever did it. I promise you."

Officer Doyle looked up at Mr. Curtis and he nodded. Darryl spun himself and Johnny around, taking him back over to his house. Soon, the ambulance drove off, and all the neighbors began going back into their houses to get some sleep. When they got back inside, Darryl told his wife what had happened and she looked at him in disbelief.

"That poor boy." Linda said.

"I know. Is there anything we can do for him?"

"Well, I'll make him some hot cider. Maybe I'll put some liquor in it to help him get to sleep."

"Yeah, some of that stuff will put anyone out."

While Linda made cider, Darryl brought his sons into the kitchen and quietly told them that Johnny's father had been murdered.

"Can I stay down here with him tonight Dad?" Ponyboy asked.

"Uh, sure. That might be a good idea."

After she was done making the drink for Johnny, Linda, Darryl, and Sodapop said good night to him and headed upstairs while Ponyboy went to the hall closet.

"Are you okay Johnny?" Pony asked as he came back into the living room with a pillow and blanket.

"Yeah...I just can't believe this has happened."

"It's okay. Everything is gonna be fine."

When Johnny layed down on the couch he thought back to what that cop said, about finding whoever had killed his Dad. But deep down he already knew who had done it, and he didn't know how to feel about it. And maybe more importantly, he didn't know what he should do.


	24. Thanksgiving

XXXXXX

Just as the sun rose early the next morning, Johnny was walking up to the front door of Buck Merrill's place. He grabbed the doorknob and turned, but found for the first time that it was locked. He sighed in frustration and began to pound on the door.

"Open the door!"

"Who is it?" Came the voice of Buck from the other side.

"It's Johnny! Let me in!"

The sound of the unlatching of a lock was heard before the door was opened slowly and Johnny made his way in, not needing to be told where to find Dally. He walked up the steps and opened the door to the first room on the right.

Dally was standing in the room, his back to the door as he was packing things into a suitcase. He didn't know what kind of evidence the police had or didn't have on him but he sure wasn't waiting around to find out. He was leaving town before they decided to start their manhunt.

"Dally."

He froze when he heard that. Closing his eyes for a second before letting out a small breath, Dally slowly turned around to see Johnny standing behind him. For a few moments, neither spoke, both watching each other with unblinking eyes. Finally, Dally ended the tension by greeting Johnny the same way he always greeted him whenever he saw him.

"Hey, kid."

"Dally." Johnny said again. "I know what you did, I know it was you. Why...did you, that wasn't what I wanted..."

"Listen," Dally began. "When I went there, my only intention was to scare him, give him a good beating so he wouldn't hurt you anymore, I swear. Things just got...out of hand I guess."

Taking a deep breath, Johnny lowered his head and looked down at the floor.

"Why are you upset? I thought you'd be happy that he would be out of your life. With all the things he's done..."

"I know what kind of person he was Dally." Johnny said, cutting him off. He of all people didn't need to be reminded. "But...he was still my dad."

"No he wasn't Johnny. A dad is someone who looks out for you, who takes care of you no matter what. That wasn't your dad, it was some asshole you had to deal with."

Another wave of silence went over them before Johnny looked at the suitcase on the bed and spoke up again.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving town." Dally explained. "I don't know if they're gonna find out it was me or not, but I'm staying to find out. I'm not spending the rest of my life in a jail cell."

Johnny frowned as he looked at him. Dally had risked a lot to help him out, done so much for him since he moved here. He just wished there was some way he could do the same for him.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" He finally asked.

"Yeah, there is."

"What? I'll do anything, I swear."

Dally just looked at him for a moment before answering.

"Don't be like me."

Johnny looked at him strangely after he said that.

"What are you talking about?"

"Johnny, I've been watching you for the past few weeks." Dally explained. "And you seem to be going down the same road I did. You want to know how you can help me out? Stay in school, fix things with your mom, and above all else, don't get into too much trouble. You see, the first time I was arrested I was eleven years old, and the thing I found out about jail is, is that it's a terrific place to stay out of."

He then gave Johnny a light hit on the shoulder.

"So keep your nose clean, kiddo." He finished.

"I will, Dally." Johnny promised.

Dally smiled a little before turning around and grabbed his bag. As he watched him put on his leather jacket, a question came to Johnny's mind.

"Am I ever gonna see you again?"

"Yeah." Dally sighed. "You'll see me again. I promise."

Then before he could stop himself, Johnny walked forward and hugged Dally. After a few seconds, Dally reluctantly returned it, throwing his left arm over Johnny's neck. As he looked down at the smaller boy's black head of hair, Dally began thinking back to when Sodapop once told him he didn't know what it was like to have a little brother. He knew now.

Over the past year since Johnny had moved to Tulsa, Dally had experienced something he never thought he would in his whole life.

A real friendship.

When they let go of each other, neither said another word as Dally walked out of the room and down the steps to see Buck waiting for him at the bottom.

"Hey Dally." Buck said while pulling a huge wad of cash out and handing it to him. "Here you go, hopefully this will help you out for a little while."

"Holy shit, how's much is here?" Dally asked while taking it.

"Let's just say…a lot."

They both grinned at each other before shaking hands.

"Take care, old buddy." Buck said.

"You too."

Dally then made his way to the door, Johnny and Buck following him the whole way. He threw his bag in the backseat before getting into the T-Bird, not even bothering to look back at his two friends. Starting it up, he revived up the engine once before taking off.

Johnny watched him the whole way, until the car was out of sight. When he could no longer see it, Johnny placed his hands in his pockets, kicked a little bit of dirt on the ground before turning around and heading home.

XXXXXX

That was two months ago.

It was now almost the end of November and winter was right around the corner. Johnny was currently walking down the sidewalk with his mom, approaching the Curtis house because they had been invited to have Thanksgiving with them this year, which his mom, Sarah Cade had accepted.

She had also had gotten a regular job and stopped working nights. Sarah now had a lot more time for her son nowadays, Johnny was happy about that, because he now had the attention of one of his parents, and was doing what Dally had asked him to do.

When they reached the front door, Johnny knocked and after a few seconds it was answered by Darry, who had returned home from college to be with his family for the long weekend.

"Come on in." Darry smiled as he opened the door further to let them in.

The two headed through the living room and into the kitchen to see Linda and Darryl Senior putting the finishing touches on the turkey and other food that was made. Darryl looked over when they appeared in the doorway and smiled.

"I'm glad you could make it."

"Thank you for having us." Sarah said while handing Linda a pumpkin pie she brought. "I brought this to have for later."

"Thank you." Linda responded while taking the pie and sitting it down on the counter.

"Do you need any help?"

"Well, you can get set the plates out if you'd like."

While Sarah walked further into the kitchen to help them out, Mr. Curtis looked at his watch before looking over at his oldest son.

"Darry, can you go wake your brothers up?" Mr. Curtis asked.

"Yeah, sure."

While Ms. Cade helped the Curtis' out, Darry headed upstairs to wake up Soda and Pony like his Dad asked. When he reached Sodapop's room, he grabbed a pillow and whacked him over the head with it.

"Rise and shine little buddy."

Sodapop let out a groan as he rolled over. Darry grinned and hit Soda again with the pillow before he finally brought his arms up to defend himself.

"What are you doing?"

"Waking you and Ponyboy up." Darry answered before whacking Soda on the stomach, driving the wind out of him before deciding that was enough. "You guys have been asleep all day while I've been helping mom and dad out with the food."

"That's because we were out all night." Soda responded while sitting up, and then grinned when he saw that his older brother was giving him a look. "What do you expect, this is the first break we've had from school since summer."

"Make sure Pony gets out of bed, all right?"

"No problem."

After getting out of bed, Soda then went into Ponyboy's room and pounced on him.

"Soda!" He yelled. "I was getting up!"

"Sure you were," he laughed before he started to tickle his little brother.

"Soda!" Pony exclaimed in between laughs. "Stop! I'm too old for this!"

"Too old for your older brother to mess with you? Never!"

Sodapop then grabbed Ponyboy's ankle with one hand and tickled his barefoot with the other.

Ponyboy shrieked and laughed, kicking at Soda as he waved his pillow around, frantically trying to knock him upside the head to get him to stop.

"Haaa...Soda -no,no, please-hahah."

Soda simply smiled and stood up, pulling Ponyboy into a lying position as he continued to tickle his feet.

Ponyboy realized that he probably wouldn't stop for a while, so he threw the pillow at him as hard as he could.

Soda stopped tickling Pony's feet but lost balance and fell on his back. Pony took the advantage and jumped on Soda. He then tickled Soda's sides and armpits fast and hard. His older brother laughed hysterically.

Ponyboy was tickling faster and harder on Sodapop's armpits, sides, and ribs. Pony then leaned back and starting tickling Sodapop's feet.

"Give up?" Pony asked.

"Y….Y-Yes!" Soda managed to say.

"Say uncle."

"Un...uncle!"

"Yay, I win."

Ponyboy stopped tickling Sodapop and put his hands on his shoulders, continuing to hold him down. Sodapop had lost too much energy to fight back so he just layed there and tried catching his breath. Pony grinned down at him.

"You okay?"

Soda finally caught his breath.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Pony got up and also grabbed Soda's hand, pulling him up too.

"Heh, I finally beat you." Pony realized.

"Yeah, yeah. Just remember I'm still your older brother."

Sodapop then grabbed Pony's head in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

"Hey stop!" Ponyboy laughed.

When they both changed into nicer clothes, Pony followed his older brother down the stairs as Darry helped his parents and Johnny and Ms. Cade put all the food on the table. There was turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, yams, green beans, and corn bread.

"The one time out of the year were we actually get a decent meal." Soda grinned as he took his seat. Linda looked at him and narrowed her eyes.

"I heard that."

When everyone was seated, Linda said a blessing before plates of food were passed around the table. Ponyboy looked across the table at Johnny and smiled at him before beginning to eat.

This is what family and friendship was about. Love, trust, and most of all thankfulness.

Always be thankful…for everything.


	25. Part II: Here, There, Everywhere

XXXXXX

"Alright, here we go. Three…"

Sodapop reaved up his engine before taking a quick glance at the car next to him.

"Two…"

He gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"One…"

Soda took a deep breath and waited for the towel to drop to the ground. When it did, he and Victor Roberts, his challenger stepped on the gas pedals of their cars as they began their drag race while everyone else who stood watching began to cheer them on.

Tires squealed, engines roared as the two cars twisted and turned, the two drivers were neck and neck as they raced down the dirt road, Soda's competitor seemed to be having trouble keeping control of his machine.

The dirt road they were on curved and both drivers took special care in negotiating the path. They both managed to turn the corner and go back on the road to the finish line. It was the last leg of the race and both drivers knew the stakes. One the last turn however, Victor completely lost control of the car while going for a high speed turn.

The car flipped over once before settling as Soda crossed the finish line. A collective gasp went through the crowd when the car flipped and some of them ran over to help Victor out of the car. Steve however stayed put and ran over to congratulate his best friend.

"Yeah, buddy." Steve said while giving him a slap on the back. "Still unbeaten in drag races."

"Thanks, Steve."

Others who hadn't gone over to the rolled car went over to the two boys. One of the kids who was holding the money handed it over to Soda. Both he and Victor had put up twenty five dollars as a bet to who would finish the race first.

"So, where are we hanging out tonight?" Steve asked while throwing his arm around Soda's neck.

"I can't be out too late tonight."

"Why not?"

"I have other plans tonight...kinda."

"Okay." Steve began, then remembered something. "Hey, have you heard back from the DX yet?"

"No. Have you?"

Steve shook his head. The two of them had put in applications for part time jobs at the DX gas station a few days ago.

"Maybe we should go there and ask about it."

"Not now Steve, we're celebrating."

While Soda and Steve went off to find someplace to hang out, Ponyboy was standing outside in his backyard lighting up a cigarette while staring up at the late afternoon sky. As the wind blew lightly, causing the tall grass to sway and dance softly in the breeze, he began thinking about summer vacation which started today.

Pony's mind then went to all that had happened over the past months, during the school year. He remembered breaking up with Karen so he could ask Cherry out, only to find out that she was never attracted to him at all, only using him to get a good grade on their history project. To say it was uncomfortable being in that class with her for the rest of the year was an understatement.

He thought back to everything else, Darry leaving for college, Two-Bit finally getting a job…and Dally.

Dally had left town.

Shortly after the death of Johnny's dad, Dally suddenly just vanished without a trace. No one, not even Buck knew where he went. Deep down, Ponyboy always had the feeling that Dally would leaving, it's just that he would have at thought that Dally would tell them at least.

If there was one good thing to come out of everything was that Johnny was doing a lot better in school, and his home life had improved after his dad died.

Once the sun went down, Pony threw his cigarette to the ground and lightly stepped on it before turning around and heading in the house. He climbed up the stairs to his room and threw himself down on the bed.

As soon as he got comfortable, he stared up at the ceiling as he began thinking about his sixteenth birthday tomorrow. Pony smiled as he remembered Soda telling him he planned something special for him.

Turning over on his side, Pony's eyelids grew heavy and he drifted off to sleep.

XXXXXX

"Ow!"

"Be careful, Soda."

"Why can't I turn on any lights?"

"I don't want to wake mom and dad."

"How is a light gonna wake them up?"

"Just shut up. You were supposed to be awake and ready when I got here."

"You were an hour late."

"I got held up. Just take your bag to the truck."

Once Sodapop went around him and carefully made his way down the stairs, Darry slowly opened the door to Ponyboy's room, seeing his youngest brother asleep on top of the covers. He went over to him and lightly shook his shoulder.

"Hey Pony." Darry said, keeping his voice down. "Ponyboy, wake up."

Ponyboy groaned as he began waking up. He looked at the hand that was shaking him before looking up to see his oldest brother standing over his bed.

"Darry? What in the world are you doing here?"

"Happy birthday, kiddo."

Pony lifted his head to look at the clock on his nightstand. It was one o'clock in the morning. Pony groaned again as he covered his head with a pillow.

"Why are you waking me now?"

"Come on, we've got to go. I want to be up there by morning."

"Go where?"

"You'll see." Darry then grabbed Ponyboy's ankle and dragged him out of bed. Pony hit the floor with an 'oof' as Darry went around and grabbed a backpack out of the closet and began packing things for him.

Pony was still half asleep as he made his way out of the house to Darry's truck. Once he got to the truck he saw Sodapop in the back, asleep already. He got in the passenger side and buckled up as Darry got in and started the engine.

"What's this all about?"

"Just go back to sleep, Pony." Darry said. "We'll be there by the time you wake up."

Once he began driving Darry took a quick glance over at Pony and saw that his younger brother had taken him up on that and Sodapop continued to sleep in the back seat.

Usually, it was a rule of the Curtis family that during road trips since the driver had to stay awake, everyone else had to as well. But since he had sprung this trip on them at the last minute, he didn't mind.

Continuing to focus on the road, Darry continued driving west happy that he didn't have to deal with traffic.


	26. Country Roads

XXXXXX

Slowly opening his eyes when he felt the sun hit his face, Ponyboy found himself in a bed but once he did a quick scan of the room he realized that he was not in his bedroom. He then remembered Darry waking him up and getting into the truck with him and Soda. Pulling himself up, Pony put his shoes on and left the room.

Once he was out in the hallway he looked down at the dark green carpet and had a vague sense of where he was. He headed down the stairs, looking at the pictures on the wall on his way down. But once he saw the piano in the living room Pony finally realized that he was in the home of his grandparent's house.

'I haven't been here in years.' Pony thought to himself as he looked around. After his grandfather Joe Curtis died eight years ago, his father and uncle had inherited the house.

Pony remembered being here after the funeral, but his parents had never brought him or his brothers back to the house since.

Meanwhile on the lawn, Darry and Sodapop were tossing a football back and forth to each other when they looked over as the front door opened and Ponyboy stepped outside.

"Hey look who it is." Darry grinned. "The man of the hour."

"Harry birthday, buddy." Soda said as he threw the ball to Pony who caught it as he walked down the porch steps.

"Thanks." Pony responded while throwing it back to Soda who then tossed it to Darry. "So, what are we doing here?"

"Celebrating your birthday." Darry responded. For some reason his grandparent's old house was on his mind while planning his return home for college. And with his brother's birthday coming up, he thought it would be a good way for just the three of them to do something together.

"So how's college going?"

"Good. Real good."

"What team are you playing for now?"

"What?"

"College football team. I thought for sure you'd be on one by now."

"Oh." Darry said while catching the ball and throwing it to Soda. "I never tried out for any team."

Pony looked at his older brother in surprise and nearly dropped the ball after Soda passed it to him.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

"How come?" Soda asked. "You were good enough to go pro."

"Well, guys get hurt really bad in pro football. Back injuries, neck injuries, leg injuries." Darry listed. "I even read about a guy who was paralyzed, in a wheelchair now."

Darry then took a deep breath.

"I don't want to end up like that."

Ponyboy nodded. He understood what he was saying.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I've been taking some business classes. I've even thought about becoming a personal trainer. They make a lot of money."

After catching the next pass from Soda, Darry set the ball down and looked at Pony.

"What about you? What are you going to do after you graduate?"

"I don't know." Pony admitted. "I really haven't thought about it."

"It might be time. You're going to be a senior come September. You're last year of school will go by fast, trust me."

"I know, I know."

"I applied for a job at the gas station." Soda said while walking over to them.

Darry shrugged.

"I guess you've got to start somewhere."

Soda then looked towards Ponyboy and grinned.

"Hey, I can't believe I forgot. Don't you get spanked on your birthday?"

Pony backed away from his brother and got in a defensive stance.

"Just try it."

Darry laughed.

"It's still early. We've got all day to mess with him. Come on, let's get started."

"Start what?" Pony asked as he followed Darry to the truck.

"Hunting."

Opening the trunk, Darry pulled out a shotgun and handed it to Ponyboy who looked down at it, looking a little taken aback.

"You remember how to use it, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

Darry then took a second gun out and handed it to Soda then gave him a stern look.

"Don't mess around with this, okay?"

"Yes, dad." Soda muttered as he took it and began looking it over.

Once Darry got out his gun, the three of them began walking towards a lake that was close by. The thing that Ponyboy loved the most about coming to his grandparent's house was that it had a lot of land, there wasn't another house for a few miles. After a few minutes of walking, Darry stopped them all when he saw a couple of ducks a few yards away.

"Pony, you want the first shot?"

Ponyboy swallowed, wishing Darry hadn't asked that. These hunting trips he went on with his dad and uncle in the past, the only thing he liked was being together with everyone and the sense of adventure, but he hated shooting things.

"Sure."

Raising the shotgun up, Ponyboy concentrated as he focused in on the duck. He licked his lips nervously before gently squeezed the trigger. Once he felt like he had a good shot, he fired.

'BANG!'

The shot rang out through the air as the bullet connected perfectly with the target. It hit the duck dead on as the others began making noises and flapping their wings to get away.

"Great shot, Pony." Darry smiled while giving him a pat on the back.

"Yeah, you always had the best shot." Soda said, proud of his younger brother.

The three of them walked over to the duck's carcass, Ponyboy instantly feeling guilty about killing it but didn't want to show it with his brothers around.

"Well, at least we know what's for dinner." Darry said causing both Soda and Pony to groan.

"Thank you for ruining my appetite forever." Soda said.

"Oh, come on. You eat hamburgers three or four times a week. It never occured to you that animals are involved?"

Soda narrowed his eyes at his older brother.

"Cause they don't make it look like an animal, they're very cleaver that way."

Darry laughed a little as the three of them moved on, continuing their hunt. They wounded up in the woods and looked for something to shoot. After about ten minutes, the sound of twigs cracking could be heard as something was moving along, fast.

A deer was going by and Darry raised his gun, firing but missed.

"Damn."

Soda fired but hit a tree instead. The deer was gone and Darry sighed in frustration.

"You missed." Pony teased Darry.

"I was closer than him." Darry responded while looking at Soda.

"What?"

"Yeah, you hit a tree."

"I bet I can get that deer before you."

"Oh yeah? How much you want a bet?"

"Fifty bucks."

Darry smiled.

"You're on."


	27. The Accident

XXXXXX

The Curtis brothers continued their hunt for a few more hours before Darry and Ponyboy made their way back to the house, leaving Sodapop behind who seemed determined to be the one who got the deer.

Darry had just finished washing himself up in the bathroom when he walked into the living room and saw the backpack Pony had brought with him. It was open and he saw a notebook sticking out of it. Curious, Darry looked around for his little brother before carefully picked it up and jumped to the page where a pen was stuck in and began reading the passage.

_'I saw Karen hanging out with her new boyfriend today while I was heading to the movies with Johnny. I still can't believe I was stupid enough to break up with her, but she looks happy and I'm not going to do anything to mess that up. The whole thing was my fault anyway."_

He frowned a little as he closed it and put the notebook back in the bag. Apparently his little brother had experienced his first break up while he was away at college. Darry then sighed, remembering some of the relationships he had as a teenager and how they went sour. He knew just how Ponyboy was feeling.

Right then he heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs. Ponyboy had just finished taking a shower and was still drying his hair as he reached the bottom stair. Darry smirked as he saw Pony, his hair sticking up in every direction as he walked past him to the kitchen.

"Hey buddy." Darry greeted, following him in. "Having a good time so far?"

"Yeah." Pony responded. "It's been pretty fun."

"Everything's been okay since I've been away?"

Pony shrugged.

"Sure."

"You haven't had problems in school, or…girl trouble? Anything like that?"

"Well…" Pony began. "Karen and I broke up."

"Why?"

"It's a long story. I really don't want to get into it right now."

Darry nodded as Ponyboy turned to the refrigerator to get a drink. Pony had always been private about things going on in his personal life, always writing things down in a notebook or journal but never discussing them with anyone else and apparently that hadn't changed. But still, Darry couldn't help but notice how down his brother now looked after talking about Karen.

A smirk then came to Darry's face as he thought of something that could put a smile on Ponyboy's face, for brief period of time at least.

"Hey, I just realized…you've haven't gotten your birthday lickin' yet."

Ponyboy spun around to face him, his eyes widened in shock but before he could run or dodge out of the way, Darry had grabbed his wrist and yanked him over towards him, then threw him over his shoulder and began carrying him to the nearest couch.

"Oh come on Darry." Pony laughed. "I'm sixteen, not six!"

Darry ignored him as he threw him down on the couch and jumped on top of him. He then started tickling his ribs and sides causing him to bust out laughing.

"Your sixteen now, so...sixteen minutes?" Darry asked as he continued tickling him.

"Wh-what? No way!" Pony yelled as he squirmed under his brother, trying to get away. After a minute he managed to buck Darry off of him and they tumbled to the floor.

Before he could get up, Ponyboy launched himself on Darry's back and locked his neck in a chokehold.

"Give up?"

"No way." Darry gasped.

He tried to reach back and grab a leg but Pony just tightened the grip on his neck.

'Damn, he really has gotten bigger.' Darry thought as he tried prying Pony's arms from his neck. Maybe because he always thought of Ponyboy as the baby he didn't realize that Pony had really grown since he'd been away, no longer the scrawny kid he once was.

While Darry and Ponyboy continued messing around in the house, far away in the woods Soda was still searching for the deer that he had bet money on with Darry about getting it first.

He started to get tired as he wiped some sweat from his forehead but he continued looking. It wasn't so much the money he cared about, he just wanted to get it before his older brother did, maybe that would impress him a little.

While Soda didn't say anything, he was a little hurt that Darry didn't ask him what he was planning to do after school like he did Ponyboy. After all, this was going to be his senior year at Will Rogers as well. Yeah he didn't get the best grades in the world, and Sandy tutoring him was the only reason he had made it through the last two years, but still.

Darry also didn't seem to be impressed at all at the possibility of him working at the DX. It wasn't much, but it was a job nonetheless and Soda was hoping that he would get it.

Soda took a deep breath and began thinking about going back in before the cracking of twigs made him spin around, raising his shotgun in surprise. He smiled a little, trying his best to focus but couldn't really make out anything.

"Come on." He said to himself as he looked through the trees and tall grass, trying to spot his target.

Sweat then dripped down from his forehead, getting into his eyes making Soda flinch as a quick ruffling on the ground, behind a set of trees made Soda fire the gun without even having a clear look at his target, something he had been taught to always do.

"Ah!"

Soda's mouth opened in shock after he heard that.

"Oh shit." He gasped.

He dropped his gun and quickly ran over to the trees where he had heard it hit the ground and stopped dead in his tracks when saw what it was that was laying there, behind the bushes.

It wasn't a deer, or any other kind of animal.

It was a man.

He had a hunters vest on and looked to be in his mid thirties. Soda ran over and dropped down next to him, looking him over in wide eyed shock.

"Are you alright?" Soda asked in a panic, lightly shaking him. "I'm sorry, it was an accident! Can you hear me?"

The man didn't answer. The wound was right above his right breast Soda saw as he continued asking him if he was alright, pleading for him to answer.

Finally after getting no response at all from him, he took two fingers and placed them against the man's neck.

"Oh god."

He couldn't feel a pulse.


	28. A Silent Promise

XXXXXX

The sun was starting to do down. It was going to be night soon and it was still very hot out but Sodapop still couldn't get himself to move. He continued starting at the man laying motionless on the ground, the man he had accidentally shot. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what kind of trouble he was in.

He could be thrown in jail. Even though it was an accident, would it matter?

Soda licked his dry lips as the backs of his legs were starting to hurt from standing in the same place for such a long time. He kept waiting for someone to come around, a friend or family member the man could have possibly been hunting with, just like Soda had been, but no one came.

'No one lives around here.' Soda thought to himself, remembering just how far away his grandparents house was from a neighbor. Then, through the fear and nervousness he was in, he realized something.

Nobody saw what happened. No one needed to know.

He could leave right now and no one would ever find out.

'I'm not going to jail for this. I'm not going to jail for an accident.' He shook his head as he thought that to himself. He wasn't going to get in trouble for this.

Soda backed away from the body and picked up his fallen shotgun. He was about to run off, but something was stopping him. He just had to know.

He slowly went back to the man's body and carefully went into his pant's pocket. Soda found the wallet and opened it up. Inside, he saw the man's driver's license and looked at the man's name.

'Dominick Banes.'

"I'm sorry." Soda whispered as he put the wallet back.

He got back to his feet and as quickly as he could ran through the woods, back to the house. It took him about ten minutes to reach the front door and his heart was pounding like crazy as he gasped for breath while clutching at the door handle.

The sky was now black with no stars in sight as Soda went into the house, sticky from all the sweat and his cheeks burning hot. He placed the shotgun into the corner and kicked off his shoes. He felt like going upstairs to take a shower but a voice stopped him.

"Soda!"

Soda jumped when he heard his name and saw Darry standing by the doorway of the kitchen, looking very annoyed.

"Where the hell have you been? We're just about to have cake."

"Cake?" Soda asked, his voice scratchy and throat dry. He badly needed a glass of water.

"For Pony's birthday. We went to the store to pick up one. You know I was afraid you got lost out there. If you didn't come back in another hour I was going to call the police."

"Don't call the police!" Soda's voice broke as he yelled causing Darry's brows to furrow. "I'm here, I'm fine."

Soda then walked past his older brother to the kitchen. He saw Ponyboy sitting at the table, a cake in front of him but he ignored it as he went to the refrigerator and grabbed the pitcher of water. He didn't even bother grabbing a glass as he put it to his mouth and began guzzling it down.

"Hey, Soda." Pony greeted. "So, did you get that deer?"

"No." Soda responded as he took a seat.

Darry gave him an odd look as he sat down as well and began cutting the cake. Soda drifted off into space as Pony and Darry began talking, Soda tried to pay attention and speak up as well, but just couldn't get himself to focus.

After a few minutes, Ponyboy looked at Soda and then looked down at his plate.

"Is something wrong with your cake?" Pony asked.

"No, why?"

"Because it's still there."

Soda looked down and noticed the cake that he hadn't taken one bite of.

"Are you sure you're okay, Soda?" Darry asked. "I gotta tell you, you don't look well at all."

"You know, I am starting to feel sick. Do you mind if we went back home?"

"We just got here."

"I know, I'm sorry. I must have caught something."

"You don't think if you go to sleep you'll feel better in the morning?"

Soda shook his head and Darry sighed.

"Well, Pony?"

"I don't want to stay up here if Soda's not feeling well." Ponyboy said while looking at his brother in concern.

"Alright. Once you guys are done start getting your things. We'll leave tonight."

"Tonight?" Soda asked, trying to keep the sound of relief out of his voice. First thing in the morning was what he was hoping for, but the sooner the better.

"Yeah, traffic isn't going to be that bad at night."

Soda headed up the stairs and began packing as fast as he could but remembered he needed to keep up with the act that he was sick. Once he had everything in his bag he walked into the hallway and saw Darry coming out of the bathroom.

"I'm sorry, Darry." He apologized.

"It's okay, Soda. You can't help it if you don't feel good."

He followed Darry down the stairs and his eyes then went to the shotgun he sat in the corner when he came home.

"Darry, the guns you gave us." He began. "They're…pretty common, aren't they?"

"Yeah." Darry shrugged. "You can find them at any gun store in Oklahoma. Texas too."

Soda nodded as began thinking of other things that could be led to him when the police eventually found the body.

"And the…bullets. They're nothing special right?"

Darry laughed.

"No, they're cheap bullets that anyone can buy. Soda, why are you asking me this?"

"Nothing, I don't know."

"I think you were out in the sun too long."

Once Ponyboy came down the stairs with his backpack, Darry put everything in the trunk before starting up the car. Pony sat up in front as Soda layed down in the back.

All he could think about was getting back home, getting away from here as far as possible.

He placed his over his eyes, trying to fall asleep. Trying to forget about what had happened.

Maybe when he woke up everything would have just been a dream. He didn't really shoot anyone, he wasn't really a murderer.

_'I'm not a murderer! It was an accident!'_

Once they were home, Sodapop vowed to himself that he wouldn't think about this again. He wouldn't tell anyone about this, not Ponyboy, not Steve, not Sandy.

It would be like it never happened.


	29. Planning the Evening

XXXXXX

Opening the door of the refrigerator inside of his house the following morning, Ponyboy took out two eggs and was about to go over to the stove when he felt two arms grabbed him around the waist and lift him bodily off his feet, swinging him around.

"Ponyboy Curtis!"

"Two-Bit! Let me down!"

Two-Bit swung Pony around so fast that he lost his grip on the eggs and then went flying out of his hands smashed against the wall. Pony sighed with annoyance and gave his friend a look then noticed that Steve was there with him.

"So where were you buddy? We came by looking for you yesterday but you weren't here."

"Darry took me and Soda up to our grandparent's house for a hunting trip."

"Darry's here?" Two-Bit asked.

"A two week vacation from college." Pony answered. "He's out with mom and dad now."

"Well, happy late birthday."

Two-Bit then handed Pony a twenty dollar bill.

"I didn't know what to get you. I'd figure you could use this for somethin'."

"Thanks, Two-Bit."

"Yeah, happy birthday Pony." Steve then said. "I would give you something…but I'm not going to."

Pony smiled.

"That's sweet Steve."

"I know. Is Sodapop here?"

"He's in his room."

Steve turned and headed up the stairs while Pony threw Two-Bit a rag to clean up the mess the eggs made on the wall. Once it was all cleaned up, a grin appeared on Two-Bit's face when he remembered what he really came here to tell Ponyboy.

"Pony, I've got some news."

"What?"

"And after I tell you." Two-Bit continued. "You're probably gonna want to kiss me."

Ponyboy swallowed as he made a look of disgust.

"I doubt it, but go ahead."

"You know that boy that Karen's been going out with ever since you broke up with her?"

"William?"

"Yeah. He moved yesterday, to Arizona."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's pretty broken up about it. Isn't that great?"

"You're sister is heartbroken and you think that's great?"

Two-Bit then gave Pony a slight smack upside the head.

"You moron, don't you get it? With him out of the picture this is your chance to get back with her."

Ponyboy looked at his friend for a second before turning away and getting orange juice out of the fridge.

"What makes you think I want to get back with her again?"

"Oh please, I know you do. I saw your face every time I told you she was out with William. You want her back? This is your chance."

While Two-Bit and Ponyboy were talking downstairs, Steve made his way to Sodapop's room and opened the door to see his best friend sitting on the edge of his bed, pinching the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache or something.

"Soda."

Soda looked up to see Steve standing in the doorway.

"Hey Steve." He responded in a quiet voice.

"You look terrible. You sleep okay?"

"Not really."

"Pony said Darry took you guys on a hunting trip."

Soda nodded.

"He did."

"You kill anything?"

His mouth opened a little after being asked that. Soda continued to gaze at his friend before turning his eyes away and staring at the floor.

"No. Ponyboy and Darry got all the ducks."

"Anyway, I see your not feeling well but I think what I've got to tell you is gonna make you feel better." Steve grinned.

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"We got the jobs. The manager from the DX called me yesterday and told me that we start first thing Wednesday morning."

A small smile appeared on Soda's face.

"That's great, Steve."

"And to celebrate, I got us tickets to the game tonight." Steve said while pulling out four tickets. "You think you'll be okay by eight o'clock tonight?"

"Sure." Soda shrugged. "So you want to take Two-Bit and Pony?"

Steve then gave his friend a look of disbelief.

"No, we're taking Sandy and Evie."

"Oh, that works too."

"And after the games over, I'm going back to her place. Her parents are out of town, and I feel like getting some lovin' tonight, if you know what I mean."

Soda smirked. He knew that Steve and Evie had reached that point in their relationship where they were starting to have sex, something Sandy and him haven't come around to yet.

"So what about you?" Steve asked.

"What about me?"

"I need to buy some things at the drug store, want to go with me. You might need them too."

"I'll go." Soda said while getting up and going to closet to get some clothes. "But I don't need anything."

"Are you kidding me? The two of you have been going out for two years. What have you been doing if you haven't been having sex?" Steve asked.

"We enjoy each other's company, we like being together-"

"Oh please, give me her number, I'll do it for you."

"Shut up!" Soda said while throwing a pair of balled up socks at Steve's head. "I've never brought the subject up and neither has she. I don't even know how she feels about it."

"Don't you think it's time? I think you're little guy is getting lonely."

Soda gave Steve a look.

"It's far from little. And I'm fine."

Steve shook his head as Soda pulled on a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt.

"Besides, even if I wanted to we don't have a place. Her parents will be home tonight, my parents will be home tonight…so what could I do?"

"How about Buck's place?"

Soda's eyes went to the side. That actually wasn't a bad idea. His parents had always told him to stay away from there, but he was almost eighteen now. Steve then grinned when he saw that his friend was actually starting to give this some serious thought.

"So…" Soda began. "How much are the…uh-"

"Condoms?" Steve asked. "Can you say condoms?"

"Shut up." Soda laughed as he pushed his friends shoulder as they headed out of the room and down the stairs.

"I'll tell you what, I'll just give you one of mine. I have a feeling you'll be giving it back anyway."

"Yeah, we'll see."

Once the two boys were out of the house they approached Steve's car. Soda was just about to get in when he saw something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

A cop car was slowly coming down the street. Out of nervousness, Soda squeezed his hands together tightly as the car came closer, but it never stopped. It just continued driving down the road till it was out sight and Soda took a huge breath of relief.

"What was that about?" Steve asked. "You looked like you were about to piss yourself."

"Nothing." Soda snapped as he got in. "Just drive."


	30. Rekindling an Old Flame

XXXXXX

It was going on seven thirty when Ponyboy and Two-Bit walked up to the Mathews house, Johnny was with them as they made their way through the door and looked around for Karen, wanting to bring her along to go bowling with them.

It was Pony's idea, he wasn't quite ready to ask her to do something just the two of them and thought it would be better if they did something in group first. After telling them his plan, Two-Bit didn't mind because he was off tonight and Johnny didn't have anything better to do.

"Hey, Karen!" Two-Bit shouted. "Where are you?"

"In here!"

They walked into the kitchen and saw Karen sitting at the table, drinking a Pepsi and eating potato chips with French onion dip.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked.

"We're going out." Two-Bit answered. "So get up, you're coming with us."

"I don't feel like it."

"Come on, you can't sit in here wallowing forever."

"I'm not wallowing!" She snapped.

"Hang out with us tonight, Karen." Pony then said in much more gentle voice. "It's been a while since you've done anything with us."

It was true, ever since he broke up with her and she then started going out with William he could count the number of times they hung out together afterwards on one hand.

Karen looked at him, smiled a little then shrugged her shoulders as she got up and pushed her chair in.

"Fine. What are we doing?"

Ten minutes later when Two-Bit parked his car in the parking lot of the bowling alley, Karen was less than pleased when she realized what the plans were.

"I hate bowling." She sighed as she reluctantly followed the three boys in.

"You've never even been here with us before, so shut up." Two-Bit said before going to the front counter. He ordered two lanes and after everyone got shoes the four of them approached their lane.

"Alright, me and Johnny we'll take this one. Ponyboy, you and Karen get the other one." Two-Bit then winked at Pony before picking up a ball.

Pony smiled as he took a quick glance at Karen who sat down on the bench, still looking depressed about being here. But maybe it was because William moving away was still on her mind.

He picked up a ball, focused, then sent it straight down the lane knocking down six pins and shrugging in indifference at doing so. Pony then glanced over at the lane next to him and watched as Two-Bit bowled, the ball going straight into the gutter.

"Uh, it's your turn." Pony said to Karen as the machine re-set the pins.

Karen sighed as she got up and Ponyboy cleared his throat, knowing that he needed to make the most out of this opportunity to talk with her.

"So, how good are you at bowling?" Ponyboy asked, a grin coming to his face.

"Well, I could probably be better." Karen admitted.

"Really?" He replied, seeming to be deep in thought. "Well, maybe I could help you out a bit."

"Sure."

The two of them walked over to their lane and Karen picked up a ball.

"Okay, what do I need to do?" She asked.

"Well, first you need to try and picture a line going from your hand to the first pin." Pony said while gently taking her arm and slowly moving it back and forth. "Then move forward with one knee bent and throw the ball down that line."

Karen was smiling and it was then did Pony realize that not only did he still have a grip on her arm but was resting his chin on her shoulder. He took a quick step back and Karen did what he had advised her to do, and ended up knocking down three of the corner pins.

"Hey, I think it worked." She smiled.

"Yeah, you looked pretty good."

Meanwhile in the other lane, Two-Bit grabbed his ball as it came back to him, throwing it back down the alley. Again, it ended up in the gutter.

"Magnets." He said by explanation, sitting down on the bench next to Johnny who was smirking at him. "Magnets in the ball."

"I'm sure."

"Let's see if you can do any better." Two-Bit said while folding his arms as Johnny got up and made his way over to the alley.

Johnny picked up a ball and threw it down the lane, knocking all the pins down in a strike causing the older boy to swear under his breath and shake his head. Two-Bit then took a glance over at the lane next to theirs and couldn't help but grin when he saw Pony and Karen talking and laughing.

"You know, I kinda missed this Pony." Karen said as he rolled his ball, hitting a strike. "Hanging out like we use to."

"Yeah, it's been a few months since we've done anything."

"Why don't we do something tomorrow? If you're free."

"Yeah, sure." Ponyboy smiled.

Karen smiled back and went up to bowl next. Ponyboy turned and looked over at Two-Bit who was looking at him with raised eyebrows. Pony grinned and gave him a brief thumbs up before walking back up next to Karen.

While the four of them continued their bowling game, the basketball game Steve, Soda, Sandy, and Evie had all gone to was coming to an end. And despite how hard he tried, Sodapop just couldn't concentrate on the game, couldn't talk to Sandy and be that happy-go-lucky guy she knew and loved.

No matter how hard he tried to think about it, his mind kept going back to that man he shot.

They were currently riding back from the arena in Steve's car, Soda sat in the backseat with Sandy and was staring out the window as he noticed that rain was starting to come lightly down.

"Are you okay?" Sandy then asked while touching Soda's hand. "You seem like you've got something on your mind."

'I think I know what's on his mind.' Steve smirked as he looked through the rear-view mirror.

"It's nothing." Soda responded. "I guess I'm just a little tired."

Sandy nodded then looked at Steve.

"Steve, can you drop me off first?"

"Uh, Soda?"

Soda shrugged.

"Go ahead."

Steve then made a noise as he shook his head. He should have known that Soda would be to chicken to go through with it.

After a few minutes of driving, Steve pulled up along side Sandy's house and waited for her to get out.

"Evie, do you want to stay over tonight?"

Before she could answer, Steve said;

"No, Evie. My parents are out of town. Don't you want to stay at my house…and…you know?"

Evie smiled a little but again, before she could say a word, someone spoke. This time it was Soda.

"Steve, don't you still have that rash?"

Evie's brows then furrowed as she looked at her boyfriend.

"You have a rash?"

"No I don't." Steve said then looked back at his friend. "Soda what are talking about?"

"You know, what you told me this morning? The rash on your genitals."

Steve's jaw opened as did Evie's and Sandy's.

"I'll stay at your place, Sandy." Evie said as she quickly got out of the car and followed her friend up to her house.

"Soda, what the hell!" Steve shouted.

Sodapop got out of the car and moved up to the front seat as his best friend continued to fume.

"I need to talk to you about something." He began.

"You know, if I didn't know you my whole life, I'd attack you right now." Steve said while glaring at him.

"Steve please, it's important."

Steve then noticed that look on Soda's face. His eyes were now glassy, filled with unshed tears.

"What is it?"

"Let's go back to my house."

Looking at his friend for another moment before nodding, Steve put the car in drive and began taking them to the Curtis house.


	31. Questions and Answers

XXXXXX

After he pulled up in the driveway, Steve followed Sodapop up to his front door and walked in to see Darry sitting in the living room, talking with his parents. They all turned when they heard the front door slam, and both Curtis parents smiled when they saw their second son.

"Back so soon?" Darryl asked.

"Yeah, well. The games over."

"Usually you stay out much later than this." Linda said.

Soda shrugged.

"There's nothing to do."

"Are you feeling better? Darry said you got sick when he took you and Ponyboy hunting."

"Yeah, I'm alright."

He then looked at Steve.

"Come on."

They both walked up the stairs and headed straight for Sodapop's room. Once they were in Soda closed the door behind them so they could be alone.

"Alright, Soda. What's going on with you?" Steve asked.

"After I tell you, I need you to promise you won't tell Pony, or Sandy, my parents. No one."

Steve gave his friend a strange look as he went over and sat down on his bed. Soda then shook his head.

"I thought I could just forget about this but I can't. I need to tell someone...I figured I could tell you."

"Soda…are you gonna tell me that you're a fag? Because if you are-"

"What? No!"

Soda looked at Steve incredulously before looking back down at his feet.

"When Darry took me and Pony up to our grandparents place to hunt…I wandered away from them deeper into the woods. I thought it was a deer behind the tree and I…it was an accident-"

"Come on man, spit it out."

"I shot someone." He said quietly.

Steve's brows furrowed.

"You shot someone?"

Soda nodded wordlessly.

"And?"

"I ran away. I left him and didn't tell anyone."

"Ah, man." Steve groaned. "Soda, what were you thinking?"

"I thinking that I might be arrested. Put in jail."

"It was an accident."

Soda the closed his eyes and put his head in his hands.

"I can't deal with this, Steve. I thought I could but I can't."

He then looked up at him as tears silently began to fall from his eyes.

"I don't know what to do."

Steve then sat down next to him and threw his arm over Sodapop's shoulder, doing his best to comfort him.

"It's okay."

He then sighed as he got an idea.

"Take me up there."

Soda turned his head to look at him.

"What?"

"Show me the body. It will only be two days, he'll still be up there, right?"

"I guess...what are we gonna do when we get up there?"

"I don't know. We'll just take things one step at a time."

XXXXXX

The following day, Steve picked Sodapop up around eleven and began taking them up to his grandparents house. But as they were making the drive, Ponyboy and Karen exited The Dingo after having lunch.

They both had a good time, especially Pony. The two of them were really connecting again, like they use to. He just hoped that this continued, he didn't just want to be friends, he wanted Karen to be his girlfriend again.

The two of them were walking through the park when Pony remembered something.

"Oh, I can't believe I didn't tell you."

"What?" Karen asked.

"My dad took me up to the DMV this morning." Pony then dug in his pocket. "I got my learner's permit."

Ponyboy showed it to her and Karen began cracking up.

"You look like such a dork." Karen laughed as she looked at the picture.

Scowling playful, Pony reached for it.

"Dork, huh? Give it back."

Karen however dodged him and placed it in her pocket.

"Come and get it."

She turned around and ran, Ponyboy immediately giving chase. And being that he was on the track team for a reason, he caught up with her in no time.

Ponyboy grabbed Karen around the waist and tackled her to the ground. However, she was quick and rolled them as they began to wrestle. Little did they realize how close to the hilltop they'd gotten. The hill led down to the lake at the bottom.

The two of them were laughing, rolling each other, trying to pin each other down when they rolled over the hilltop and down the bank. To keep from separating from him, Karen wrapped herself around Pony, yet they still laughed and yelled as the rolled down the hill. They were going so fast that they didn't even know that they were about to go right into the lake, but that's exactly what happened.

SPLASH!

Ponyboy and Karen rolled right into the water, immediately getting soaked to the bone. Pony stood up first, grass in his hair and little dizzy from rolling all the way down. He gently took Karen's arm and helped her up, both were still laughing and had big smiles on their faces.

As they stood in the water together, Karen then realized how close she was to Pony, barely an inch separated them. Pony looked into her eyes for a moment before slowly starting to lean down to her lips, to kiss her.

Karen was closing the distance as well, her face approaching his but just when they were about to kiss, she quickly put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Wait, Pony. I can't do this."

Ponyboy pulled back, puzzled.

"Why?"

"I want to go back to they we were…before we ever started going out. You know, when we were just friends."

"You just want to be friends?" Pony asked, disappointed.

Karen then walked over and stepped up out of the lake. Ponyboy did the same and they began walking along the grass.

"Pony." She began. "When we were dating, I thought everything was going fine. But then, out of no where you broke up with me, and I don't even really know why."

Ponyboy then sighed as he remembered why he did it.

"I still care for you, I just don't think it'd be a good idea to start dating again."

"Karen."

He then stopped her and decided to tell her the real reason he broke up with her. She deserved to know.

"I'll tell you why I broke up with you. And I'll be completely honest."


	32. Revealing the Truth

XXXXXX

Still dripping wet as they walked over to sit down on the bench, Ponyboy took a deep breath as he wondered just how to tell Karen that the reason he broke up with her was because he was attracted to another girl. He decided that the only way to do so was like a band-aid. To rip it off quickly.

"Karen." Ponyboy began after taking a deep breath. "The reason I broke up with you is because I was attracted to another girl. I thought she liked me and I needed to break up with you first before I started trying to get with her."

Pony couldn't meet her stare after revealing it. He just bit his lip an tensely waited for her response.

"I figured as much."

"You knew?" Pony asked, bewildered.

"Well, not exactly." Karen responded. "But I suspected. You kept blowing me off when we had plans…avoiding me. I started to think that maybe…"

She trailed off and Ponyboy quickly spoke up.

"Nothing happened." He insisted. "I never did anything with her."

"It's okay."

"I'm sorry."

Karen nodded.

"So, what happened with the other girl?"

"It turns out she didn't like me at all. I guess she was just using to me to get a good grade on the History paper and avoid all the work. Her boyfriend then punched me in the ribs and warned me to stay away from her…then that was the end of everything."

"I'm sorry that happened to you." Karen responded, sincerely. "She must be a real bitch."

Ponyboy couldn't help but chuckle.

"Her name is Cherry Valance. She lives in the upper East side. I guess she was just to guys that are rich."

"I appreciate you tell me this, Pony. Very brave of you to admit all this."

The two of them got up and began walking up the hill they rolled down.

"It's okay that you don't want to go out again." Pony continued. "I'm just glad that we're hanging out like we use to. I missed it."

Karen nodded as she looked at him.

"Me too."

"You miss William?"

"He was okay." Karen responded.

_'But he wasn't you.' _She then thought to herself as they reached the sidewalk and began heading in the direction of the Mathews house.

"Hey, I've got some extra money." Pony remembered. "Want to head to the Nightly Double tonight?"

"Sure." Karen shrugged. "And by the way, if by some chance we're hanging out and you see that Cherry girl, point her out to me and I'll give her a good slap for you."

Ponyboy laughed again.

"I don't think your brother would like it if you got into a fight."

As Ponyboy continued to walk Karen back to her house, Steve and Sodapop were only minutes away from their destination. For the most part, the ride up here had been a quiet one, the only noise was the radio that Steve insisted on cranking up as loud as he could. But once Soda realized how close they were, he reached forward and turned the knob down so his friend would hear him clearly.

"So what's the plan, man?" Soda asked. "I mean, what are we gonna do when we find him? Bury him?"

"First we need to find out his name." Steve responded.

"I know his name."

Steve's brows furrowed.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I checked his driver's license before I ran off. It's Dominick...Dominick...something."

"That's helpful." Steve responded.

"Come on, give me a break."

"Alright. So, we're gonna find out his name than try to find a relatives house. Tell them we found him like that, they don't have to know that it was you who shot him."

"I don't know about this Steve. What if we don't find a relative?"

"Then we'll just call the cops. Like I said, they don't have to know that you were the one."

Soda couldn't help but frown a little after Steve told him his plan. Even if it worked, he still didn't think that would clear his conscience.

"God damn." Steve swore as he looked at mass of land. "You were kiddin' about this place being in the middle of nowhere. There's a whole lot of nothin' out here."

"That's the way my grandfather liked it." Soda explained. "He wasn't exactly a people person."

"I guess the nearest neighbor is gonna be miles away." Steve then said as he saw a house coming up. "That's the house, right?"

"Yeah."

Once he parked the car, Steve and Soda both stepped out. The two of them the walked up to the house and Steve looked over and saw that his friend's hand was shaking.

"What are you so nervous about?"

"I'm scared, Steve." Soda admitted. "I don't want to see his body again, and your plan isn't gonna change that fact that it's my fault he's dead."

"It isn't your fault, Soda." Steve snapped. "Okay? It was accident. Now you came to me for help, let me help you."

Sodapop then took a deep breath and seemed to calm down.

"Okay."

Steve nodded.

"Alright. Lead the way."

Soda then took Steve down the path that led to the woods. The two walked in silence for a few minutes, before a deer crossed their paths causing Soda to glare at it.

"I wished me or Darry shot your ass when we had the chance."

"Now what are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Soda responded as he continued to walk. "It was just thing between me and Darry about who could shoot it first. If he or I got it when we first saw it none of this would have happened."

"Alright, Soda. Just keep going."

Steve then looked around at his surroundings. All these trees looked similar to him and really had no idea where he was.

"You sure you remember were he is?"

"I remember."

Soda then looked ahead and saw the set of trees and swallowed nervously.

"It's up ahead."

"Okay. Come on."

He nodded and the two boys continued walking, but a lot slower now. Steve then decided to talk in order to distract Soda.

"It's gonna be cool working at the DX." He began. "Working on cars and stuff like that. A lot of cute girls come by, it's gonna be-"

Steve then stopped as he ran into Sodapop's back who had come to an abrupt stop. His mouth was open and his eyes were wide at what he saw. Or rather, what he didn't see.

No body.


	33. Letting Go

XXXXXX

"He was dead! He had to be dead!"

Sodapop ran over to where he left the body several days ago, looking around widely with eyes that were filled with shock.

"Are you sure that this is the spot, Soda?" Steve asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Look, there's dried blood on the ground."

Steve ran over to the spot and knelt down. Sure enough, there were a couple spots of dried blood on the ground.

"Where the hell is he?" Soda said, still pacing.

"I don't know, maybe-"

"He could still be alive, or the cops could have found him. Maybe somebody saw me running away from the woods and told the cops. They could be coming up to my house right now looking for me." Soda ranted as he continued walking back and forth and was now biting on one of his fingertips. "I need a cigarette, I need a cigarette, give me a cigarette-"

"Soda! Calm down!"

"Calm down!" Soda then yelled. "How the hell do you expect me to calm down!"

Steve then slapped Soda across the face and grabbed Soda's shirt, dragging him to the ground. He then wrapped his arm around and his shoulders and rocked him back and forth as he tried to help him relax.

"Relax, buddy. Come on, calm down."

Taking several deep breaths, Soda then squeezed his eyes shut as he continued listening to Steve.

"Everything's all right. Okay? Everything is fine."

"How is everything okay?" Soda asked. "His body is gone. What the hell happened to it?"

"You said it yourself. The cops probably found him."

"So now what? What's going to happen to me?"

"Nothing. No one is gonna find out that it was you who shot him. I won't say anything, I promise. You're off the hook."

Soda looked over and glared at his friend before getting back to his feet.

"I'm not off the hook, Steve. It doesn't matter if nobody knows. _I_ know and can't deal with it!"

"You can deal with it." Steve said while following Soda back up. "It was an accident. That's the key word here, accident."

Sodapop took a deep breath and Steve continued.

"I've known you since grade school, I know you wouldn't hurt anyone like that on purpose. You made a mistake by running away, but there's nothing you can do about that now. You've just got to let it go."

He then put his hand on his friends shoulder.

"Let it go. Okay?"

Soda nodded.

"Okay."

"Alright. Come on, let's get out of here."

The two of them then began walking the path the followed to get back to the car. Soda looked at his friend, feeling a little guilty for dragging him into this mess. But despite everything, he had his back the whole time.

"Thank you, Steve."

Steve looked back at him with a smirk.

"You can thank me by acting like your old self again."

Soda smirked back as they continued walking.

"Sure."

XXXXXX

Several weeks later, Ponyboy and Two-Bit walked through the door of the DX gas station causing the bell above the door to give off a soft ding. They both looked around as Pony made his way to the coke machine and Two-Bit picked up a chocolate bar, putting it in his back pocket. After getting his drink, Pony made his way to the front counter and rang the bell.

"Hold on a sec!" Steve hollered from the back.

It was then followed by a crash and a sting of curse words that followed before Steve immerged wiping his hands off with a white towel. He looked surprised when he saw the two of them.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

"We came to visit our buddies." Two-Bit grinned.

Steve rolled his eyes as Ponyboy held out his cup.

"Here, I need to pay for this."

"It's on the house, kiddo." Steve responded while waving his hand. "You know that."

"Thanks. Where's Soda?"

Steve turned his head and looked towards the back.

"Hey Soda! You've got a visitor!"

A russling was heard from the back before Sodapop walked in, grease on his face and a cap on his head. He looked around and grinned when he saw his brother standing there.

"Hey, Pony. So you came to visit your big brother?"

Steve smirked as he looked at his friend. Now that he had this job to go to, he was acting more and more like his normal self again. Hopefully he was starting to get over what happened out in the woods.

"Yeah." Pony responded. "So how have things been going?"

"Well, there hasn't been much action around here today." Soda sighed, sounding bored.

"No customers?"

"Only a few." Steve answered for him.

"Yeah, so we've been working on the cars in the back."

Looking at his brother, he then got an idea.

"You wanna come watch us?"

"Oh, do you mean it Soda?" Two-Bit asked in a girly voice. "We can watch you guys at work?"

Soda narrowed his eyes at Two-Bit.

"You don't have to. Come on, Ponyboy. Maybe you can help us out a little."

Ponyboy hopped over the counter and Two-Bit laughed and followed his friend. Sodapop and Steve led them through the back which contained tons and tons of boxes. Soda opened the door that led to the back of the gas station where the garage was and inside two cars were parked, both had their hoods opened, tools were all over the floor and grease stains were everywhere.

"So what'd ya think?" Soda asked.

"It's pretty cool." Pony answered.

"Alright, boys. Get to work." Two-Bit ordered.

Steve rolled his eyes and picked up a wrench.

"Don't make me use this on you."

He then bent down and wedged himself under the car as Two-Bit walked over and quietly opened the car's door. Soda and Pony watched with curiousity as Two-Bit sat down before pressing the horn.

'HONK!'

The noise caused Steve to jump, hitting his head underneath the car.

"Damn it, Two-Bit!"

"Hey, how did you know it was me?" Two-Bit asked as he got out.

Steve pulled himself out from under the car and as soon as he saw Two-Bit he began chasing after him around and around the car before finally smartening up and going the opposite direction, catching his friend and pulling him in a headlock.

"You best let me go!" Two-Bit yelled as he struggled to get away. "Or I'll tell your boss you attacked a customer!"

Ponyboy and Sodapop were both laughing pretty hard, Soda shook his head and then spoke up.

"Alright guys, stop messing around in here. One of you could end up getting hurt."

Steve looked over at Soda before grinning and tightening his hold on Two-Bit.

"I'll take my chances."


	34. Keep It Moving

XXXXXX

The following evening Ponyboy and Johnny were both hanging out in the backyard of the Curtis house. Pony had opened the fence so they could go out further and together they set up a trap for a rabbit that had been going after his mom's garden.

He put a carrot underneath a box and propped it up with a stick which he tied a piece of string around. Ponyboy and Johnny waited behind a bush for a few minutes before the rabbit appeared and went over to the carrot.

"Now!" Johnny yelled.

Pony pulled on the string and the box tipped over but the rabbit was too fast and ran away before it was caught. The two boys then ran after it but it was able to get away before either of them could catch up with it.

"Thanks a lot Johnny." Pony said while playfully pushing the other boy's shoulder.

"Hey, he was right there. You just pulled on the string too slow."

He pushed Ponyboy's shoulder back but that only got him tackled to the ground. The two boys rolled around the grass, wrestling with each other for a few minutes before Pony separated himself from Johnny and sat up, brushing the grass from his face and hair.

"So what are you up to tonight?" Johnny asked while standing up, brushing the grass off as well.

"I'm heading to the movies with Karen."

"Oh."

"You can come with us if you want."

"Na, I don't want to spoil things for you."

Pony then gave his friend a look as he stood up.

"It's not a date, we're just going as friends."

"Sure."

Smirking a little, Ponyboy then turned around and headed back in his house.

"See you later, Johnny."

"See ya."

After leaving the Curtis house, Johnny hung around the bowling alley playing pinball for about two hours as it slowly started to get dark. He decided he'd had enough and headed back for his house. Once he walked through the front door, he smelled something from the kitchen and walked in too see his mother sitting at the table.

"Oh, mom. I didn't know you were home."

"Yeah, I got off early." Sarah responded. "I cooked some dinner."

Walking over to the stove, Johnny looked down and saw that his mom had cooked some kind of stew. He shrugged before getting a bowl for himself. His mother cooked decently, but it was nothing compared to how Mrs. Curtis cooked.

Sitting down at the table, Johnny began to eat and looked over at his mom seeing that she was reading over some kind of letter.

His mom and him had developed a much better relationship ever since his dad died. They talked much more than they use to, but still, Johnny could tell that the two of them were still a little uncomfortable around each other.

But Dally had asked him to fix things with his mom, stay out of trouble and stay out of school. And had kept his promise to Dally.

Johnny tried to think of something to say but his mom spoke up before he could.

"Johnny, I need to talk to you about something."

"Alright."

"Well, ever since your father died I've been struggling to pay these bills. The mortgage for the house is way too high."

Johnny nodded. With his dad never having a permanent job, he wondered how they got the house in the first place. Sarah then took a deep breath and continued.

"And well…we're going to have to move."

He then blinked in surprise after what his mom just told him.

"What…to an apartment?"

"No, my sister and her husband have a house. She's offered to let us stay there for a little while, until the money situation is better."

"You have a sister?"

"Yes, they have more room in the house now that her son has gone off to college."

Johnny then shook his head as he tried to take all this in. Not only were they moving but he had aunts and cousins that he didn't even know existed.

"When are we moving?" He asked.

"At the end of the month."

"That's two weeks from now."

"I know, Johnny." Sarah said as she got up. "It's hard, but we will get by."

She turned to walk out of the room, but Johnny had one last question.

"Wait…your sister. She lives around here doesn't she?"

"No, she lives in California."

After hearing that, Johnny quickly rushed out of the house and ran down the street. He needed to tell Ponyboy or Two-Bit about this, that he was moving all the way to California. He couldn't believe this, when he moved here he finally made real friends and now he was going to lose them.

When he reached the vacant lot he dropped down to one knee to catch his breath. Johnny then looked up at the sky…seeing how pretty it was tonight. He then wondered if it would look like this were he was moving to.

Suddenly, he was then grabbed roughly from behind, pulled roughly to his feet and then punched in the stomach. Johnny gasped for air as he fell to the ground and then heard the sound of two boys laughing.

He looked up and standing over him was Jason and Aaron Brumley.

"Well, well, well." Aaron began. "What do we got here?"

"It's Dally's little friend." Jason said.

Johnny tried to get up to run away but Aaron caught him and put him in a chokehold. Johnny's eyes widened as he struggled in his grip. The last he heard the Brumley Boys were in jail, when did they get out?

"Ever since we got out of jail we've been lookin' all over for him." Jason continued. "The Shepard's say they don't know nothin' but what about you?"

Aaron loosed his grip so Johnny could answer.

"I don't know where he is." He gasped.

But that only earned him another punch.

"Don't mess with us, boy. We're dangerous."

Jason then flicked open a switchblade and Johnny's began trashing in Aaron's grip but it got him no where.

"Why don't we start cutting him? Maybe that will loosen his tongue."

Slowly, Jason began to approach him with the blade.

'BANG!'

All three boys jumped when the sound of a gun went off. Aaron was so startled that he lost his grip on Johnny.

They all looked over to see Buck Merrill standing no more than ten feet away, a pistol in his hand that he had pointed up at the air. He then lowered it and pointed it directly at the Brumley Boys.

"You've got five seconds to get your asses out of here!" He shouted at the Brumley's. "And don't think I'm gonna tell you twice!"

Both Aaron and Jason quickly turned around and ran for it as fast as they could. Buck then put his gun away and ran to Johnny's side who was now laying on the ground.

"Johnny? Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

However, Johnny didn't answer. His eyes gazed over and he passed out.


	35. Cherokee Heights

XXXXXX

"Johnny? Can you hear me buddy?"

Slowly coming to, Johnny opened his eyes and found that he was staring up into the face of Buck Merrill who was standing over him.

"Where am I?"

"You're at my place."

Carefully sitting up, Johnny found that he was on a couch and looked around to see that Buck's place was completely trashed. The television was broken, the bar stools were thrown about and all of the bottles of alcohol were broken.

"What happened here?"

"The Brumley Boys trashed my place." Buck sighed. "When I got back here I saw that they were running out and I followed them. I guess you were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Yeah." Johnny kinda smirked. "Suppose I was."

"What were you doing at the lot by yourself anyway?"

"I uh…I was on my way to the Dingo."

"Are you okay? You don't need to go to the hospital do you?"

"No. I'll be alright. I'm glad you came around when you did."

Buck then smiled.

"I'm glad that I found you too. I was going to wait until tomorrow to try to find you, but I guess I can take you up there now."

"Take me where?" Johnny asked, now confused.

Waving him towards the door, Buck was now grinning even wider.

"Come with me."

He got up and followed the older man outside to his car. Buck started it up and turned the radio on as he got on the express way and began taking them to the next town of Cherokee Heights. Again, Johnny asked where they were going but Buck only smirked again and didn't answer.

When Buck got off the express way and back on regular roads he then turned into the parking lot of a cheap, run down motel.

"He just got back this morning." Buck began as he parked his car in front of a door. "He asked me to find you and bring you here."

"Who?"

"Come on."

Johnny opened the door and followed Buck up to the door that read '101'. Buck then knocked and waited for the door to be answered.

"Buck what's going on?" Johnny asked as he looked at him.

The door then opened.

"Hey kid."

Johnny then froze when he heard that voice. He hadn't heard it in a while, but he knew it from anywhere.

He turned his head and standing right there was Dallas Winston smirking down at him.

"You've been keepin' your nose clean, kiddo?"

Not being able to help himself, Johnny threw himself at Dally and hugged him tightly. If it was anyone else, Dally would have thrown them off him but he only returned the hug as Buck laughed and walked in to the room and closed the door behind him.

"Dally? What are you doing here?" Johnny asked when he let him go.

"I told you would see me again."

He then noticed the bruise on his face.

"What happened to you?"

"Oh. I got jumped by the Brumley Boys."

Dally could only stare at him.

"Are you serious?"

"Oh yeah." Buck answered for him. "They trashed my place too."

"Damn sons of bitches." Dally cursed.

"Damn right. I should have shot their asses."

"Yes you should have."

Dally then shook his head as he sat down on the bed. Even an eight month absance from town wasn't enough to make the Brumley's forget about the blood feud he had developed with them over the past two years.

Johnny then bit his bottom lip as he took a step closer towards him.

"Dally...the whole gang misses you. They have no idea what happened to you."

"Yeah, well. I can't risk coming back-"

"You're wrong." Johnny then said. "My mom and I went to the station a few months ago. They told us they don't have any suspects for what happened. And not much evidence. They only found a size ten shoe print in the backyard."

"I were size ten." Dally said.

"Come on Dally." Buck spoke. "The cops ain't gonna figure out it was you just based on that."

Dally then sighed before he looked at Johnny.

"Speaking of your mom, how have the two of you been doing?"

Johnny had to stop himself from wincing, remembering what she had told him about having to move in just two weeks. He knew he should have told Dally right then, but just couldn't get himself to do so.

"Good." He finally answered. "She got a day job and we talk a lot more than we use to."

Dally nodded.

"What about school?"

"I'm going to be a senior next year. Along with Soda, Pony, and Steve."

Reaching forward, Dally gave Johnny a light slap on the back.

"Good for you, kid. It looks like you did everything I asked."

"I told you I would. Especially after all you did for me."

The two of them looked at each other for a moment before Dally leaned back and took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one up.

"So will you come back?" Johnny asked.

Dally looked up at him before looking towards Buck who nodded and grinned.

"Come on, it's a short drive."

He nodded before taking a deep breath and getting to his feet.

"Alright, let's go."

A bright smile came over Johnny's face as he had to stop himself from hugging his friend again but Dally shook his head.

"I'm not saying I'll stay."

Johnny's smile quickly disapeared and Dally sighed and continued.

"I'll stay at Buck's place for a few days...if everything seems okay-"

"You'll stay?"

"I'll think about it."

The three of them exited the room and headed towards Buck's car.

"Wait." Buck then said. "Don't you have to pay for your room?"

"Ah, let em sue me." Dally responded as he got into the front seat.

"Glad to see time away hasn't changed you."

Buck started up the car and began driving them back to Maplewood. On the drive, Johnny and Dally kept talking with Johnny mostly asking Dally questions.

"So where did you go?" Johnny asked. "Did you leave Tulsa?"

"Yeah." Dally answered. "I went to Texas. Went from town to town, made sure not to get in too much trouble."

They continued talking, Johnny told him what was going on with the rest of the gang and Dally told him what he'd been doing since he left. Finally, Buck drove them in front of the Curtis house and waited for them to get out.

"You wanna come in?" Dally asked Buck.

"Na, I need to get back to my place. It needs a lot of fixing up."

"Alright. I'll be there in a little while."

Both Dally and Johnny got out of the car and made there way up to the door. From the sound of voices coming from the house, Johnny knew that someone was home. He slowly opened the front door and saw Ponyboy, Sodapop, Two-Bit, and Steve all sitting in the living room talking.

"Hey guys." Johnny said, getting their attention.

The four boys looked over at him, then all collectively froze when they saw who was standing right beside him. After a few moments went by, Two-Bit shot up to his feet.

"Dally!"


	36. Zoning Out

XXXXXX

"Is it really you?" Two-Bit grinned as he walked over and grabbed Dally in a hug. Dally winced and felt like pushing him off but just shook his head and let the other boy continue to hug him but didn't return it.

By this time, Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Steve were all on their feet and staring at Dally as if they were looking at a ghost.

"Where have you been, Dally?" Ponyboy asked.

"Yeah." Two-Bit responded as he let go. "It was if you fell into a black hole, you just vanished. Buck didn't know anything, the Shepard's didn't know anything…"

"Well." Dally began as he scratched the side of his face, trying to think of an explanation. "I guess I just needed to get away from here for a little while."

"Why?" Soda asked.

Dally then glared at him.

"What am I…applying for a job?"

"No."

"Then stop asking me fucking questions."

Soda and Steve exchanged glances as Steve shook his head.

"Nice you see you haven't changed. So why even come back at all?"

Dally then turned his head to glance at Johnny. He really wasn't planning on coming back at all, he just wanted to check on the kid, make sure everything was okay with him. Johnny was the one who convinced him to come to town, and to be honest, he really wasn't sure if he was staying for good or this would be some overnight thing.

"I don't know." He finally answered. "I guess just to see how things have been goin' since I've been gone. So what's new?"

Two-Bit then suggested a game of poker which they set up on the dining room table. Soon, it was just like old times, the radio was turned on, smoke filled the air as they lit up cigarettes and began playing cards and talking about all that had happened since Dally had been away. Ponyboy and Johnny however just watched as the other's played for money and didn't participate in the game at all.

"So where did you go?" Two-Bit asked while looking over his cards.

"Texas." Dally answered as he placed several one dollar bills on the table.

"You know, you could have at least told us you were leaving." Pony spoke.

However, that only got him a hard look in return causing the younger boy to swallow nervously.

"Why should I have to tell you anything? What'd you care that I left anyway?"

Pony didn't answer and he glanced at Johnny who had remained quiet ever since they'd arrived. Only he out of all of them knew the real reason why Dally left town and knew he couldn't tell them.

"I raise another ten." Steve announced, throwing another ten dollar bill into the small pile of money.

Shaking his head, Sodapop answered.

"Too rich for me. I fold."

Two-Bit folded as well but Dally however was smirking.

"Must be a pretty good hand, Randle. I'll match, and just to see you sweat, I'll raise you another ten."

He then threw a ten on the pile. Steve nodded his head and matched the raise before saying, "Call."

Placing his cards on the table, Dally laughed.

"Pair of kings, all hearts and diamonds."

Steve cursed as Dally pulled the money towards him and Two-Bit sighed, remembering how Dally almost always won the card games they use to have.

"I don't know how you do it, Dally."

"Pure talent." He answered.

Just then, the sound of a car pulling up caught the attention of all six boys, and Pony and Soda looked at each other, knowing their parents were home.

"Guys, put out your cigarettes." Pony said as he quickly put his out on an ashtray and hid it under the table as Dally, Two-Bit, and Steve followed his action. The door then opened and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis stepped in.

"Hi boys." Linda greeted when she saw them all.

"Hi." They all said in unison.

Linda however froze when she and Dally locked eyes with each other.

"Dallas?"

"Hi, Mrs. Curtis." He smiled.

"Where have you been?" Linda asked as she walked over to the table. Dally just shrugged in return.

"On vacation, I guess."

"We were worried about you."

Dally nodded.

"Thanks, but I'm okay."

Darryl then came over to were his wife was standing and Dally nodded to him.

"Hello, Mr. Curtis."

Darryl nodded back.

"Dallas." He said simply before looking towards Linda. "Are you coming to bed?"

"Yes." She then looked towards Soda and Pony. "Boys, don't stay up too much longer."

Both Linda and Darryl headed up to their bedroom. Darryl sat down on his bed and removed his shoes as Linda took off her necklace.

"It's nice to see he's okay. I thought something happened to him." Linda began.

"Yeah. Really great that he's back." Darryl responded sarcastically.

"Darryl, how come you don't like him?"

"Is it that obvious?" He asked as he turned towards his wife who nodded in return. "He's a juvenile. I've never liked him around the kids."

"I think he just needs someone." Linda said as she looked at the floor. "Someone to help him."

"You can't save em' all, Linda."

Back downstairs, the boys continued playing, this time just for chips before Johnny looked at Pony and finally spoke for the first time since arriving here.

"Can I get a drink?"

"Sure. You don't have to ask."

Johnny nodded and got up to head for the kitchen. Ponyboy however had sensed there was something wrong with his friend and got up to follow him.

"Johnny, what's wrong with you?" He asked when he walked in. "You've been quiet all night."

The other boy just sighed.

"Come outside."

Johnny headed for the door and the two of them walked outside to the backyard, closing the door behind them.

"What is it?" Pony asked.

"You promise not to tell anyone?"

"Yeah."

"Pony...I'm moving."

Ponyboy just blinked and stared at his best friend.

"You're moving?"

Johnny nodded.

"Why?"

"My mom can't afford the house anymore."

"Where? When?"

"To California. At the end of the month."

Ponyboy had to stop his jaw from dropping.

"Johnny...you can't move."

"I don't have a choice."

Pony was about to say something else but Johnny just shook his head.

"Come on, let's go back inside. Remember, don't tell anyone."


	37. A Schoolboy Crush

XXXXXX

The boys continued to hang out throughout the night, playing cards and talking until Steve remembered he had to get up for work tomorrow morning and headed home. Sodapop was off but decided to get go to bed anyway, he had a date with Sandy tomorrow night. Another short game of cards started up that Dally ended up winning with three aces.

"Damn it!" Two-Bit cursed.

Two-Bit then lunged at Dally, taking him out of the seat and to the floor. The two rolled around on the floor. Dally flipped him over to pin him but Two-Bit countered and ended up on top instead.

"Ah! You bastard! Haha" Dally then yelled. Johnny then ran over to see that Two-Bit was tickling Dally. "Stop damn it! I'll kill you!"

"I know you cheated, Winston!" Two-Bit laughed, tickling Dally more.

"Guys! Stop!" Pony said. "My parents will come down here!"

Two-Bit finally stopped and quickly got up and ran to the door before Dally could possibly retaliate.

"I'll see you guys around."

Breathing heavily, Dally pulled himself up and glared at the front door before turning to Johnny.

"Remind me to kick his ass next time."

After straightening himself up, Dally went to the door. Ponyboy then spoke up to him and Johnny.

"Hey, do you guys want to spend the night?"

"Na, I can't." Dally responded. "I gotta get to Buck's place.

"I will." Johnny said.

Dally nodded.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."

After Dally left, Johnny helped Ponyboy clean up the mess the other boys made. After throwing stuff away in the kitchen, Pony turned to his friend.

"Johnny, you can't move."

"What can I do? I live with my mom, I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Maybe you do."

Johnny's brows furrowed.

"What'd you mean?"

"Let me talk with my mom, I'll see what I can do."

The following afternoon, Sodapop was getting ready for his date with Sandy. He was borrowing Steve's car and taking her up to his Uncle Bill's place. This had been a day he had been waiting for. His horse, Mickey Mouse was finally grown, he could finally ride him today.

Ponyboy and Karen were heading to the carnaval set up in town and Pony had managed to convince Johnny to come along. The Curtis house would be empty and quiet.

Linda had prepared a nice dinner for her and her husband until she got the call from Darryl that he wouldn't be able to make it home in time.

She sighed after she hung up the phone. She was disapointed but she understood. Darryl was talking with his boss about possibly moving up to supervisor. It was a good job, more money, and Linda knew he wanted it so she didn't mind him blowing off dinner this once.

Linda blew out the candles she had on the table and prepared to eat alone when suddenly the door opened and Dally came in. He was still in town, and had spent pretty much all night helping Buck fix his place back up.

"Oh, sorry." He apologized when he saw her. "Is Johnny here? I've been lookin' all over for him."

"No." Linda responded. "He went to the carnaval with Ponyboy about a half an hour ago."

"Thanks."

He then was about to turn around to leave but Linda's voice stopped him.

"Are you hungry, Dallas?"

Dally turned back around and looked at the plates. He then remembered how good Mrs. Curtis' cookin was.

"Uh...where's Mr. Curtis?"

"He's out with his boss tonight, he's trying to move up to supervisor."

"Well, good for him." Dally responded.

"Come on, that way I don't have to throw this away."

"Alright." He finally agreed as he walked over and sat down across from Mrs. Curtis. The two ate in silence for a few moments, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence as the two didn't mind being around each other.

Linda then decided to bring something up.

"So where have you been for all this time?"

"I left town." Dally responded after taking a bite of spaghetti. "I just needed to get out of here."

"So you just decided to leave? No reason at all?"

Dally looked down at his plate before taking a deep breath.

"I did something I shouldn't have."

He was just going to leave it at that. Dally knew he couldn't tell Mrs. Curtis about how he had inadvertently killed Johnny's dad. However, Linda knew better than to ask anymore about it.

When they were both finished, Dally helped Linda out with cleaning up before they both stepped outside in the backyard. It was now dark out and they were looking up towards the sky, watching the stars.

"Have you ever thought about what you're going to do?" Linda began.

"What'd you mean?"

"For a living? What did you want to do when you were a kid?"

Dally sighed.

"Honestly...I wanted to be a cop."

Linda looked over at him in surprise.

"Really?"

"I was a little kid, I thought cops were tough."

"You can still do that."

"Oh yeah." Dally almost laughed. "I'm sure they'd love to have me."

They were quiet for another minute before Linda spoke up again.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"I'm surprised. I really am."

"I have standards."

"What kind of standards?"

"I wish more girls my age were like you."

Dally then froze when he realized he had just said that out loud. Linda was now staring at him with a surprised look on her face and Dally slowly turned his head to look at her.

"Like me?" She questioned. "Why?"

"I don't know. I just…you're…" Dally tried to find the right words but couldn't. "I don't know why. I just do."

Dally and Linda were now looking at each other, neither one of them said a word. Slowly, Dally leaned forward and kissed her…

"Wait." Linda then said as she pulled away.

"I'm sorry." Dally then said while taking a step back. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay."

Linda then sighed heavily, shaking her head before smiling a little.

"I can't be your girl, Dallas."

"I know."

"I can be your friend."

Dally nodded as she continued.

"It's never too late to turn your life around. If you ever need help, or someone to talk to...I'm here."

The two of them just stared at each other before Linda walked around him and to head back inside.

"Hey."

Linda stopped and looked back at him.

"If you were nineteen...would you?"

She couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, I would."

Dally couldn't help but look down and grin as Linda walked back into the house. Shaking his head, Dally took a cigerette out of his pocket as he decided to go looking for this carnaval that Johnny went too.


	38. Getting Even

XXXXXX

It had now been a little over an hour since Ponyboy, Johnny, and Karen had arrived at the carnival set up in town. After spending time on the rides and going to a few booths, Karen had spotted a few friends from school and was now talking with them. Now that she was no longer around, it gave Ponyboy the chance to talk with Johnny alone about the whole moving situation.

"Johnny, you don't really want to move do you?"

"Of course not." Johnny replied. "But I don't have a choice."

"Maybe you do. Would you want to live with me?"

Johnny looked at his friend with confusion.

"What do you mean, live with you?"

"I mean, live at my house. Stay with me in my room. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind you staying with us."

"You can't fit two beds in your room."

"Then I'll get Sodapop to switch rooms with me and we'll stay in there." Ponyboy sighed. "Come on, Johnny. You can't leave."

The other boy hooked his thumbs in his jeans as he thought about it.

"I mean...I guess I wouldn't mind living with you...but what about my mom?"

Ponyboy frowned. He knew they didn't have enough room in the house for her to stay too.

"Would you really miss her that much if she moved to California without you?" He asked.

Johnny looked up at him.

"You think she would leave without me?"

Ponyboy looked at his friend but didn't answer. He didn't want to say something that could possibly upset him. Just then, Karen came back over and joined the two of them.

"Hey guys." She smiled. "What do you want to do next?"

"I think I've had enough for one night." Johnny responded.

"Aw, come on."

"Yeah." Pony agreed. "I need to get home."

"You guys suck."

Ponyboy smiled a little but his smile quickly faded away when he saw in the distance, a familar person standing by the drink stand just a few feet away.

"What is it?" Karen asked when she saw his face.

"Nothing." He muttered while looking down.

Karen then looked over to where Ponyboy's eyes once were and saw a pretty redheaded girl standing there.

"Who's she?"

Ponyboy let out a small groan.

"You remember the girl I told you about? That's her...Cherry Valance."

Karen looked back over, this time with narrowed eyes as she now had a face with a name. She was the one that Ponyboy found attractive and broke up with her for. She was the one who had used him, pretended to like him just to avoid work on a project. She had hurt Ponyboy and it didn't matter to her that they were no longer together, he was Karen's friend and had been for years.

Without a word, she began marching over towards Cherry.

"Karen, no!" Ponyboy pleaded but it was too late.

"Excuse me." Karen said once she was in front of the other girl.

Cherry looked at her, then made a face as if she had swallowed something awful as she looked Karen up and down.

"Do I know you?" Cherry asked.

"No. But I'm sure you know him."

Karen then pointed towards Ponyboy and Cherry looked over at him. Pony sighed once they made eye contact and Cherry quickly looked away.

"I think he was in one of my classes last year. So what?"

"I'm sure you remember him." Karen responded. "You used him to get all the work done for a history project, pretended to like him. Then your boyfriend beat him up."

From where he was standing, Ponyboy could hear what Karen was saying and he lightly kicked the ground with his shoe.

"I didn't get beat up." He muttered.

"What's going on?" Johnny then asked.

"It's a long story."

Cherry then rolled her eyes as Karen finished.

"Is this going somewhere or should I just walk away now?"

"Don't you think you should apologize to him?"

"Ha, that will be the day. Now why don't you go back to your street corner and leave me alone?"

"You bitch." Karen swore.

"Hey, who do you think you're talking to?"

With that, Cherry threw her drink in Karen's face. Karen then tackled Cherry to the ground and a fight broke out. They rolled both around, throwing slaps and punches at each other as Ponyboy watched in shock. Part of him wanted to quickly rush over and stop it, but another part of him just let go on until a tall boy quickly ran in and grabbed Karen's hair, yanking her up to her feet.

He recognized the boy as Jake, Cherry's boyfriend who had punched him and warned him to stay away from his girl so many months ago. He ran over and grabbed the other boy around the waist, taking him down and punched him in the face as hard as he could, then nailed him in the chest.

Meanwhile, Karen had Cherry pinned to the ground and had her hands around her throat, choking the other girl until she started to turn blue. Finally, Johnny ran over and pulled her up and off the other girl. All the other people around had stopped to watch the fight and security was now coming there way.

"Pony, we've got to go!"

Ponyboy gave Jake once more punch before getting up and running with Karen and Johnny out of the carnival. They ran past the gates and kept going until they were a safe distance away from the place and they all stopped to catch their breaths.

"Karen what were you thinking?" Ponyboy finally asked. "You know if they had caught us we could have gone to jail-"

He didn't get to finish as Karen grabbed his shirt and pulled him to her. She kissed him deeply for a few seconds before letting go. He now stared at her in shock.

"I didn't know that getting into a fight could be so much fun." Karen almost laughed. She had been told about getting into fights by Two-Bit and Ponyboy put had never been in once herself until tonight.

"I'm glad you liked it." Ponyboy smiled as Johnny just stood back and grinned, watching the exchange between the two. "So...does this mean we're back together?"

Karen didn't respond. She just leaned up and kissed Ponyboy again. When it was over she looked at him and smiled.

"Do you want to stay over at my place tonight?"

Ponyboy looked over at Johnny who just shrugged in return.

"Sure. Why not?"


	39. Vengeance

XXXXXX

Sodapop was humming along to the song on the radio as he continued driving up the road, just a few minutes now from his aunt and uncle's house. Sandy was sitting in the passenger's seat just watching the road, but every few minutes would look behind her and see the exact same black car behind them. She couldn't help it, but at that moment she started to become concerned.

"Soda, I think we're being followed."

"Hmm?"

He clearly was not paying attention and looked in the rear-view mirror at the car behind him.

"Yeah. I've noticed that car behind us ever since you picked me up. I think he's following us."

"Oh yeah? Well let's just see."

He then made the left turn down the road that led to the house and the car behind them kept going straight.

"See. Nothing to worry about."

Sandy then smiled at her boyfriend knowing there was only one thing on his mind at the moment. He then reached the house and parked on the side.

Getting out of the car, Soda went along to the other side and he took his girlfriends hand in his, then began to led her up to the barn. Over the past two years of their relationship the two of them had come up here a lot to visit Sodapop's horse, seeing him grow. She didn't mind, it was peaceful up here, away from all the noise and people.

Opening up the large barn door, Sodapop looked inside and grinned when he saw Mickey Mouse inside his stall.

"Hey Mickey." Soda smiled as he pet his head. "Come on buddy."

He opened up the door and led his horse out into the open as Sandy smiled at the scene.

"You finally get to ride him." She said.

"Yeah." He smiled. "And you're gonna ride him with me."

"What?"

"Come on."

"I've never been a horse before."

"Well, neither have I." Soda responded as he looked over at her. "Please, Sandy?"

Sandy looked at him before shaking her head. She just couldn't resist his smile.

"Alright."

"Good, need help getting on?" Soda asked.

Sandy nodded and Soda gently took her sides and lifted her up so she could climb up easier on the horse. He then climbed up in front of her.

"Okay, do you want to go fast or slow?"

"Slow." Sandy immediately answered.

Soda nodded and yelled out something, Mickey then began going forward, a little too fast for Sandy's liking.

"Uh, Mickey? Slow down, please." Sandy called out. Mickey then began to go slower and Sandy wrapped her arms tightly around Soda's waist so she would stay on.

A couple minutes passed as they continued going along the land and Soda finally spoke up as he was starting to get bored.

"Alright, let's go faster."

"Why?"

"I want to try it!"

"We could fall off!"

"Mickey would never buck us off. Come on!"

Sandy bit her lip.

"Okay." She reluctantly agreed.

Soda grinned.

"Get'ey up!"

He gently kicked Mickey's side and the horse neighed, before starting to run. Sandy was now wide eyed as she clung to her boyfriend for dear life. Mickey jumped over a fallen tree making the both of them scream out in excitement. Sandy began to loosen up, it was fun. Mickey continued running by the house then back to the barn before starting to slow down.

"Alright, stud." Sandy began. "What'd you say we give Mickey a little rest?"

"Sure."

Soda got off and helped Sandy off the horse as well. Together they walked him back to the barn. Once they got there Mickey walked inside and they both sat down on a pile of haystacks and looked up at the sky.

"It looks so peaceful tonight."

"Yep." Soda said, but was looking at Sandy, not at the sky.

Sandy turned her head to look back at Soda and smiled as well. The two then moved forward to kiss each other. Their lips touched and Soda moved his hand to the back of her neck to deepen the kiss-

"Ah!"

He then yelled out in pain when something hard hit his back. Sandy jumped back in surprise then screamed when she saw a man standing over them. He was wearing a black trench coat and a black cowboy hat. He the grabbed Soda's hair and threw him backwards, making him land hard on the ground.

"Soda!" Sandy screamed.

That was all Sandy got out as the man quickly spun around and punched her in the face with such force it knocked her unconscious.

Soda lunged to his feet to come at his attacker when he saw it but the man had a pistol in his other hand and he slammed the bottom of it against Soda's head.

His vision was foggy once he hit the ground. Soda tried to look up at his attacker as he crawled backwards.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked weakly. "What do you want?"

He was then grabbed and pulled to his feet. Soda was now looking into the eyes of his attacker.

It was him. The man. The man he shot in the woods. The man he thought had killed. He was standing right in front of him.

He was in such shock he couldn't even muster up a single word. Dominick then punched Soda in the gut before clubbing him hard in the back making drop right back to the ground.

Pain ran through his entire body as he tried to crawl away but his arms and legs felt like jello.

"You're dead." He finally managed to yell out. "I saw you die!"

"You need to check your eyes, son."

Dominick then kicked Sodapop right in the face.

Soda then groaned in pain as he rolled over. He felt something hot running down the side of his face. Brining his hand up, he touched his face gently and saw it was blood.

"I'm sorry. It was an accident." Soda said as tears began to come to his eyes.

"Oh, I know all about accidents."

Dominick then spat as he looked at Sandy for a moment before turning his attention back to the boy who had shot him.

"Let me give you some advice." He then dragged Soda back up to his feet. "Next time you leave a man for dead, make sure he's really dead."

Swinging his pistol, Dominick nailed Soda right across the face with it and his head snapped to the side as blood flu out of his mouth.

He then pointed the gun down at Soda.

Dominick cocked the gun but before he could fire it, Mickey Mouse came running out of the barn, straight at him. He jumped up on his hind legs, kicking at him while making noise as if trying to protect his owner.

Soda opened his eyes to see Dominick now pointing his gun at Mickey.

"No!"

BANG!

Dominick fired the gun and the bullet hit Mickey square in the head. The horse then slowly tipped to the side and dropped to the ground, dead.

The lights of Bill and Rachel Curtis then suddenly came on after the gunshot. A few seconds later Bill ran out with a shotgun in hand.

"What the hell is going on here!"

He could hear someone near the barn.

"Wait here." He told his wife.

Bill ran to the barn as fast as he could. The sight before him was his nephew laying over the body of his horse, crying. His girlfriend was on the ground, motionless.

No one else was in sight.


	40. Things Fall Apart

XXXXXX

Ponyboy was almost skipping down the sidewalk as he was in such a great mood. Not only did he get some form of payback on Cherry and her boyfriend, but more importantly Karen and him were back together. He began to whistle as he walked up the steps of the porch and opened the door to his house.

His brows then furrowed in confusion when he saw his parents running around like their heads were on fire.

"What's going on?"

"Grab your coat, Ponyboy." Darryl said. "Sodapop's in the hospital."

He stared at his parents in shock, the good mood he was in disappearing into fear.

"What happened?"

"Come on, Pony." His mom said as he grabbed his coat from the closet and almost threw it at him. "We need to get going."

The three of them then exited the house and got into the car. The tires screeched as Darryl backed the car out of the parking space and began taking them to the hospital. The tension in the car was unbearable as Ponyboy began chewing on his fingernail, a habit he once had when he was nervous.

Once they reached the hospital and his dad found a parking spot, he got out of the car and Pony felt his heart pounding faster in his chest and he approached the huge building with his parents. They made their way inside to the front desk where an older woman was sitting at.

"Sodapop Curtis. What room is he in?" Darryl demanded.

The woman checked her clipboard.

"Room 205." She answered.

They quickly went to the elevator and took it up to the appropriate floor. Once they got out they looked around widely before they saw Bill, Rachel, two cops, and a doctor standing outside of a patient's room.

All three of them ran down the hallway and were met with hugs by Bill and Rachel.

"Soda?" Linda gasped.

"He's fine." Bill answered as he let go of his brother. "He's pretty beat up, but he'll be okay."

Darryl then looked towards the doctor.

"Doctor." He began. "What happened?"

"From the marks on his face it appears that Mr. Curtis was pistol-whipped. He's awake but be careful, he's in bad shape."

"Also." One of the cops then spoke. "See if you can get some answers from him. He wouldn't say a word to us."

Linda grabbed the doorknob and opened the door to the room. The three of them stepped in and saw Sodapop's state.

There were bandages around the top of his head and bruises and small cuts were on Soda's handsome face. Tears began running down Linda's face as she ran over to her son, gently putting her hand on his.

"Oh, my baby," She cried. "Who did this to you?"

However, Soda didn't respond. He just kept staring ahead at the wall.

"Soda? Are you alright?" Darryl asked, looking close to tears as well as he made his way over to him.

They continued talking to him, but Soda didn't respond to anything. Ponyboy however just stood there, looking at his brother, his fists were balled up as rage filled his entire body.

Finally, he turned away and opened the door, stepping back out into the hallway. He marched right up to his uncle as he tried to get a hold of himself.

"Uncle Bill?" Ponyboy nearly growled as tears of anger began to fall. "Who the hell did this?"

"I don't know. There was nobody outside when I got there."

Bill then put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort his nephew.

"Why is Soda so quiet?" He then asked and Bill frowned.

"The man who beat him up…he killed Soda's horse as well."

Ponyboy looked at his uncle in shock.

"Mickey Mouse? Someone killed him?"

Bill nodded as Pony looked to the side.

Why would somebody do such a thing? And to Sodapop of all people? He was so nice, so charming…he would never hurt a fly. He didn't deserve what happened to him.

XXXXXX

The three of them remained at the hospital until visiting hours were over. Linda kissed her son's cheek gently before leaving. When they got home, Ponyboy tossed and turned in his bed, not getting any sleep at all that night. His brother was okay, but the way he looked…his horse being killed, Pony just kept pondering what kind of person would do something like that and it kept him awake all night.

When it was finally morning he changed and stepped out of the house, walked down the sidewalk until he reached the Mathews house and gently pushed the front door open.

He heard voices coming from the kitchen and walked in to see Two-Bit and Karen sitting at the table with bowls of cereal in front of them.

"Hey, Ponyboy." Two-Bit greeted. "What are you doing here so early? I guess you couldn't wait to play 'ha-ha' with my sister."

Karen then threw a cornflake at her brother, regretting ever telling him the two were back together. She then looked by at Ponyboy and saw his face, seeing that he looked quite upset about something.

"Pony? What's wrong?"

Swallowing the knot in his throat, Pony weakly replied;

"Sodapop's in the hospital."

Two-Bit and Karen looked at each other before looking back at Pony.

"Is he alright?"

"He'll live. Someone beat him up…bad."

Karen quickly got up and threw her arms around Pony's neck, hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Pony shrugged. "It's Soda I'm worried about."

He then shook his head as he started to get angry.

"I'd love nothing more than to find that son of a bitch that did that to him."

"Pony, stop. The police will find him."

"They don't have any suspects. Sodapop won't tell them anything."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know." Pony sighed in frustration.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" Karen suggested. She walked with Ponyboy out of the house and Two-Bit decided to follow them.

"So no suspects at all huh?" Two-Bit asked. "Where'd it happen?"

"My uncle's place."

"Could it be a soc that did it?" Two-Bit was at a loss. He had no idea of who would want to harm Soda. He was so nice to people, he couldn't think of one person who didn't like him.

"Na." Pony said while shaking his head. He knew that Soda once had issues with a pair of socs but things between them pretty much ended after the rumble two years ago.

The three of them continued walking until they were coming up to Johnny's house. Then Two-Bit stopped in his tracks when he saw something.

"What's this?"

Two-Bit then pointed to the 'For Sale' sign that was pinned up on the house.

"Johnny's moving?"

Ponyboy then sighed heavily, not believing that he had actually forgotten about it.

"Yeah."

"When?" Two-Bit asked. "Where?"

"At the end of the month. To California."

The news hit the older boy like a ton of bricks and left him in shock.

"But…Johnny can't leave."

"I was gonna mention it to my parents. Try to convince them to let him stay at my place."

"If they say no, then he can stay with me."

"Why's he moving anyway?" Karen asked.

"His mom can't afford the house anymore."

Ponyboy then looked over at Two-Bit.

"How does your mom afford the house?" The two of them only had their mother, how did she manage to get by?

"Ah, the house is paid off. My dad was an amateur baseball player for a while, remember? They make decent money."

While the three of them continued to walk, Steve was getting off the elevator inside of the hospital Mr. Curtis had told him that Sodapop was currently at. He went slowly down the hallway and hesitated for a second before slowly opening up the door.

When he walked in, Sodapop opened his eyes and the two of them stared at each other. Steve was taken aback by his best friend's state but tried his best to act normal.

"Hey, buddy." He greeted.

Soda didn't respond and Steve walked closer.

"Your dad called me this morning. He said you were attacked by somebody?"

Steve then took a seat next to the bed. He was silent for a few moments before asking;

"Was it him?"

He didn't have to elaborate, Sodapop knew who he meant. Closing his eyes, he gently nodded. Taking a deep breath, Steve struggled to find something else to talk about.

"Sandy's okay." Steve began after a few seconds. Just so you know-"

"How the hell did he find me?" Soda then snapped.

Steve looked at his friend.

"I don't know. But we're gonna get him. I'll help you-"

"No."

Soda looked up at the ceiling before closing his eyes.

"I'm gonna deal with this myself."


	41. Slow Drain

XXXXXX

It had been several days now since Sodapop had gotten out of the hospital. He still refused to talk to anyone about what had happened up at his uncle's place and no one brought it up. After finding out what happened, his boss at the DX had given him two weeks off as he was still healing some of the bruises on his face.

Walking up to the door of Buck's place, Soda knocked twice before the door opened.

"Hey, Curtis." Buck greeted when he saw him. "What are you doing here?"

"Is Dally here?" Soda asked.

Buck opened the door further to let him in. Dally was sitting on one of the sofas as he looked over when he saw Soda enter the place and walk towards him.

"I heard what happened to you." Dally began. "You okay?"

"Dally." Soda began, ignoring the question. "I need a gun."

Dally raised an eyebrow.

"Come again?"

"A gun." Soda repeated. "Do you have one?"

"Perhaps. What do you need one for?"

"Are you kidding? Do you even have to ask?"

He then pointed to his bruised face as Dally continued to look him over. Over by the bar, Buck was wiping down the counter as he listened in to the conversation.

"Why would a kid like you have to carry a gun around? Who exactly is trying to get to you?"

Soda looked back over to Buck before turning back to Dally who was looking at him, apparently interested in his response.

"I don't know." He finally said.

"I don't buy it." Dally said while standing up. "You're a good kid, Soda. You're telling me that somebody just picked you out of the blue to jump and beat up?"

"Yeah. It happens to people all the time."

"Ponyboy told me that the person also killed your horse."

Sodapop stiffened at the mention of that, than began to feel rage build up inside him as he lowered his eyes and shook his head.

"A person doesn't do all that unless they're getting back at someone for somethin'. So come on, who's after you?"

Buck was now paying full attention as Soda stared at his feet. After a minute, he exhaled deeply…then began to explain. There was no point in keeping it a secret anymore.

"Darry took me and Pony on a hunting trip a few weeks ago. In the woods, I accidentally shot someone…and left him. A few days later, I told Steve about it and we went back up there, but his body was gone…"

He then trailed off as he took a quick look at Dally was had a surprised look on his face. Soda then sighed as he continued.

"I don't know how he found me, but he followed me to my uncle's house, so that means he knows where I live. He's gonna get me…and I'm scared." He admitted.

There was silence in the place as Dally continued to look at Soda before slowly walking around him to the bar. He nodded at Buck who then reached down and pulled out a revolver he had behind the bar. Dally picked it up and went back over to Soda.

"What is your plan?" Dally asked as he kept the gun at his side.

"Huh?" Soda responded, confused.

"How you gonna get this guy?"

"I…I don't know. I don't know how to find him. I guess he lives up near my grandfather's place…that's where it happened."

"You should go to the police." Buck stated.

"I can't, didn't you hear me when I said I shot him and left him for dead?" Soda snapped.

"You probably don't know his name, do you?" Dally asked.

"Yeah I do, it's Dominick…"

Soda then trailed off as he tried to remember his last name. He shut his eyes as he thought back to that moment, the day he shot him. He thought back to opening up his wallet...taking out his driver's license.

He saw his name...

"Dominick Banes." Soda said out loud. "His name is Dominick Banes. So if I can't go to the cops how do I find him?"

Soda and Dally were both quiet in thought before Buck spoke up.

"You could try a phone book."

It was simple. The man he shot was probably a normal guy, normal life, normal job. He just wanted revenge, and Soda had to settle this before he took things even farther than he already had. He scanned through the names in the phone book that Buck handed to him, looking through the 'B' section. He then saw it.

'Banes, Dominick.' His number was right next to it.

"What do I do, just call him?" Soda asked.

"Yeah, go ahead." Buck said as he handed him the phone.

Nervously, Soda began to dial the number as Dally went to the other room and picked up the other phone to listen in. After a minute, Soda could feel his heart rate quicken when he heard a voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

He was silent for a moment before licking his dry lips and responding.

"Hello, Dominick. This is Sodapop Curtis."

Once again, there was silence, this time from the other end. He expected him to hang up, but he didn't. After a few seconds, Dominick asked;

"How did you find me?"

"Funny. I was about to ask the same thing."

"It wasn't hard."

"I think we should meet, Mr. Banes."

"Why's that."

"You know why."

"You really want to meet with me?"

"Yes. This has to be settled."

"Alright." Dominick almost laughed. "Come to the place you shot me...alone."

He then hung up and Soda sighed as he put the phone down. Soda then looked over as Dally came back into the room, gun still in his hand.

"Did you listen to that?"

Dally nodded.

"Come with me, I've got a plan."

XXXXXX

While this was going on at Buck's place, Ponyboy was sitting at the table in his house, finishing his breakfast. His mom was getting ready to head to work and Pony knew he needed to bring this up now as he was running out of time. In just one more week, Johnny would have to move out of Tulsa.

"Mom?" He began.

"Yeah?" Linda answered as she combed her hair.

"Um, I haven't told you yet...but Johnny is moving at the end of the month."

She looked over at him.

"Really?"

Ponyboy nodded.

"I'm sorry, honey." Linda frowned. She knew how close the two had become since Johnny moved here two years ago.

"He doesn't want to move."

"I'm sure he doesn't. I had to move myself over the years until my parents finally settled down. It's never easy."

After he didn't respond, Linda assumed he was finished and went to the closet to get her shoes.

"Can he stay with us?" He then blurted out.

Linda looked over at her youngest son with a confused face.

"What do you mean, live with us?"

"Yeah. I mean we have space for him, I don't mind sharing a room with him. Please mom?"

"I..." She really didn't know how to answer. She finally decided to go with the easy one. "Why don't you talk to your father about this?"

"Talk to me about what?"

Ponyboy looked over as he dad walked in from the backyard. He forget that he was off today. He then sighed as he repeated the question.

"Can Johnny stay with us?"

"Yeah." Darryl shrugged. "He can stay over any night."

"No...I mean live with us."

Darryl stared at his son in confusion before looking at his wife.

"Johnny's moving." Linda explained. "Pony wants to know if he can live here, with him in his room."

His dad almost laughed.

"Ponyboy, this is a big thing you're asking." Darryl began. "It's not like you asking for a dog."

"I know."

"Does Johnny's mother even know about this?"

Ponyboy sighed as he shook his head.

"I'll tell you what...if Johnny's mother says it's okay-"

"He can live here?" Ponyboy asked, with a little too much enthusiasm.

Darryl and Linda looked at each other.

"We'll talk about it."


	42. The Final Confrontation

XXXXXX

"What did they say?" Johnny asked when Ponyboy came walking out of his house and down the porch steps to greet him outside.

"They said you need to talk to your mom. She needs to say its okay."

Johnny then sighed as they began walking to the direction of the Cade house.

"You're mom's still home, right?"

"Yeah, she doesn't go to work for another half an hour."

"Good."

"Wait, you want me to talk to her now?"

"Yes, now. We're running out of time."

Swallowing nervously as he moved along, this was what he was dreading having to do, but knew he had to talk to his mom about this eventually. Once they got to the house, Ponyboy waited as Johnny walked in and saw his mom walking around the living room, getting ready for work.

"Oh, I'm glad I saw I saw you before I left." Sarah began once she saw him. "You need to start packing on Thursday, and the movers will be here Friday morning-"

"I don't want to move." Johnny suddenly blurted out.

"What?"

"I don't want to leave Tulsa." He continued. "I like it here, my friends are here. I only have one year left of school. I don't want to move."

"Johnny." Sarah began, not wanting to do this right now." I know you don't want to move, but we don't have any alternative."

"Well…" Johnny began, uneasy as he stared at his shoes. "The Curtis' are willing to take me in…"

A few seconds passed before Sarah finally responded.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I told Ponyboy I was moving and he asked his parents if I could stay with them."

"They agreed?"

"They said I had to ask you first."

Neither one said a word after that, the only noise in the room was the clock ticking by. Johnny continued to stare at his shoes as he waited for his mom to say something.

"I know I haven't been a good parent over the years." She began, quietly.

He looked up at her, starting to feel guilty about bringing this up. But in the end, it was the truth. She hadn't been a good parent, she had ignored him most of his life. The past few months since his dad died was the most time they'd ever spent together, and still...there wasn't much there.

"Mom-" He began but she shook her head.

"If you want to stay with them...it's fine with me." She finished.

"Are you sure?"

"I just want you to be happy."

After that, Sarah walked out of the room as Johnny stared after her before slowly turning around and going back outside.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile, Sodapop had reached his grandparents old house in Steve's car. His nerves had caused his palms to sweat due to having to drive for such a long distance. He finally began to walk behind the house, heading to the woods, to the place Dominick had told him to go.

He continued walking, stepping on twigs and walking over fallen old branches as he passed tree after tree, trying to remember the spot.

After a few minutes, he froze when he saw up in the distance a figure standing against a tree. He was dressed the same way he was when he attacked him and Sandy that night at his uncle's place.

Soda continued on, a lot slower now but Dominick must have heard him as he looked over and smiled upon seeing him.

"You're alone." He began as he saw that Soda had no one else with him. "Good boy."

He then took the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it down on the ground before lightly stepping on it.

"You know I'm surprised you wanted to meet me again." He continued. "It's summer after all, a kid your age are usually out partying, drinking, shooting people, leaving them for dead...things like that."

"No one else was around!" Soda snapped. "It was just me, and I did not know what to do! I listened for a pulse, and I didn't feel one."

"You should have been more careful."

"It was an accident."

The two of them continued to glare at each other before Dominick chuckled a little.

"So, how did you find me anyway?"

"I looked at your driver's license." Soda answered. "I saw your name, then looked in the phone book. Simple really."

"Hm."

"Your turn."

"Well after I woke up." Dominick began. "I stumbled out of the woods and kept going to the nearest house for help."

Soda then looked down as he shook his head...he went to his grandparents house.

"No one was home, but he door was unlocked." He continued. "I saw some interesting pictures inside, I saw the picture of the boy who shot me. Did some research on the house...wasn't hard."

Dominick then smirked.

"And I found you, didn't I?"

"You went too far." Soda seethed, as he remembered that night. "You should have just went to the police if you wanted to get back at me. Have me arrested-"

"What fun would that have been?"

Soda balled up his fists and began walking towards him but Dominick pulled a gun out of his coat pocket and pointed it at him. Soda stared at the gun for a moment before looking back at him.

"You wouldn't."

"You sure about that? We're out in the middle of no where. No one would find out for a couple of days, maybe even a week or two.

He then walked closer to him.

"You shot me and left me for dead. I think this would make us even."

BANG!

A shot rang out through the air as Soda jumped and Dominick screamed in pain. He dropped down to his knees, clutching the hand that once held the gun as blood gushed from the wound.

Soda quickly picked up the fallen gun before looking over as Dally appeared, coming from behind were Dominick was standing, his revolver in hand.

"Great shot." Soda said.

"Thanks." Dally smirked.

Dominick looked up, trying to figure what had just happened and saw the other boy smirking down at him.

"You son of a bitch." Dominick stammered through the pain.

"So what do we do now?" Dally asked.

Dally then looked at his friend in surprise as Soda then pointed the gun at Dominick's head.

"You tried to kill me." He began. "You attacked my girlfriend...you killed my horse. Give me one reason why I shouldn't."

His hand began to shake as Dally slowly put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"Easy, kid." He began. "You don't want to do that."

Dominick just stared up at Soda who continued to point the gun at him.

"Give me the gun. Come on, buddy. Give me the gun."

He bit his lip, but finally did what Dally asked. He slowly handed him the gun and Dally placed it in his waistband before grabbing Dominick and standing him up.

"Soda, go call the police."

Dally led Dominick through the woods to Soda's grandparents house. It took the cops about fifteen minutes to arrive as the placed Dominick under arrest and began taking down Sodapop's story.

"I came here with my buddy." He began. "This man, attacked us. Luckly Dally had his gun with him. I then recongized him as the man who attacked me and my girlfriend a few days ago."

"Your girlfriend can confirm it's him?" Officer Reilly asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. We're going to have to take you two to the station for further questioning. We need to get in touch with your girlfriend too."

"Okay."

"Just one more thing." The officer began. "Do you have any idea why this man came after you?"

Soda looked at Dally who shook his head. He then looked back at the officer.

"No idea."

XXXXXX

They all sat in the station for about an hour. Sodapop had given them a more detailed statement while Sandy had arrived and identified the man as the attacker.

Soda and Sandy sat with each other in a room, hand in hand waiting before Officer Reilly stepped in.

"I'd say you two are lucky to be alive." He began. "This guy has a rap sheet a mile wide. He really could have killed the two of you that night."

"Really?"

"Yeah, arrested three times for assult, once for robbery. It just goes on."

"So what's going to happen?"

"For his attack on you and your girlfriend, we're going to charge him for attempted murder. The two of you are going to have to come back up here and testify in court."

Soda and Sandy looked at each other.

"That's fine." Sandy answered.

"Alright. The two of you and your friend may go."

They both got up and left the room. Sandy's parents were waiting for her outside as was Dally.

"Thanks, Dally." He began.

"Don't mention it."

The two of them then walked out of the police station, Soda then took a deep breath, this whole thing had overwhelmed him.

"If I had just called the police after I shot him." He began. "None of this would have happened."

"It ain't your fault."

"What do you think's going to happen?"

"I don't know." Dally answered. "Hopefully he'll get put away for a long time."

The two of them didn't say anything after that as Dally went to his car and drove off. Soda looked over as Sandy walked out of the station and got into the backseat of her parents car. Their eyes met and Sandy smiled at him before they drove off as well.

Soda knelt down and picked up a handful of dirt. He let it run through his fingers as he looked and stared at the sky for a few minutes before finally getting back up. He got inside Steve's car and stared it up.

And with that, he headed back home.


	43. Becoming a Curtis

XXXXXX

The following evening Darryl and Linda were both in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner was over when the doorbell rang. Drying off his hands, Darryl walked over to the door and to his surprise upon opening it, Sarah Cade was waiting on the other end.

"Oh, Ms. Cade." He greeted. "How nice to see you."

"May I come in?" She asked.

"Of course."

He opened the door further to let her in and Linda stepped out of the kitchen to greet their guest.

"Sarah, long time no see. How have you been?"

"Fine. Just fine."

"We've been meaning to talk with you. Would you like to have a seat?"

She nodded before heading over to the sofa in the living room. Darryl and Linda both sat down across from her.

"I'm sure you know that I'm moving on Friday." She began. "But Johnny...he wants to stay."

"We know." Darryl answered.

"Johnny told me that you'd be willing to let him stay with you."

Both Linda and Darryl looked at each other.

"Well...only if it was okay with you. Johnny could stay here and finish his last year as school. And then when you were ready to come back to Tulsa-"

"I was never planning to come back." Sarah interrupted.

"Oh."

She nodded wordlessly before exhailing softly and continuing.

"I'm fine with Johnny staying here with you. I know that he'll be in good hands."

Both Curtis' smiled as Sarah wondered how to ask them what she had really came here to ask. She really didn't know the two of them that well and what she wanted to ask was a huge thing to consider.

"I was only nineteen when I got pregnant with Johnny." She began. "I wasn't ready to be a parent."

Linda stared at the other woman after she said that. She figured as much, while she herself and Darryl were in their mid forties, Sarah looked to be in her early thirties.

Sarah then continued.

"Francis and I weren't in love. He told me to get rid of the baby, but...it just felt wrong. So I had the baby, and I shouldn't have because we were horrible parents. Over the years, I tried to ignore Johnny...pretend he didn't exist. But I can't do it anymore. I want him to be with a good family."

As tears began to fall from her eyes, Darryl shifted in his seat, starting to feel uncomfortable. He looked over at his wife, wondering were the other woman was going with this. Sarah then brushed away the tears and took a deep breath.

"I wanted to ask you...if he is going to stay with you, would you consider...adopting him?"

"Come again?" Darryl asked.

Linda too was shocked by the question as she stared at Sarah.

"I know it's a huge thing to ask, but I want Johnny to have a real family." Sarah continued. "If I could give him one thing, it'd be that."

"Sarah." Linda began, slowly. "We'd be happy to take Johnny in. But as far as adopting him goes...we're going to have to think about that."

She nodded.

"Thank you, thank you both."

The two of them watched as Sarah turned in left the house. Linda and Darryl looked at each other, neither one knowing what to say.

For the next hour, Darryl and Linda sat in the backyard on their wooden swing, quietly going in their minds what Ms. Cade had asked them.

"I would have liked to have another child." Linda finally began.

"Yeah." Darryl smiled. "I would have liked a girl."

Linda smiled back as the swing kept rocking lightly back and forth. After Ponyboy was born, the two of them agreed that was going to be it for them. And it was for a simple reason, they didn't have enough room in the house and wouldn't be able to properly provide for any more kids.

"Every time I see that boy I just want to give him a hug." Linda spoke.

Darryl nodded.

"You think that his father use to hit him?"

"Probably."

Linda then shook her head, wondering what kind of a person could do that to their own child.

"Should we do this?" Darryl then asked, finally getting to the question.

"Well...Darry's in college now. And Sodapop and Ponyboy are going to be seniors in the fall, Johnny too. It's not like we'd be taking in a toddler."

"We both have better jobs." Darryl continued. "We make more money then we use to."

"Yes."

"So let me get this straight. If we do this, Johnny is going to get a new family, Darry, Soda, and Pony are going to have a new brother, and we're both going to get a new son."

Linda smiled.

"That's what's on the table."

Smiling back, Darryl answered;

"I'm in."

Just as the two made a decision, Sodapop had entered the house with Ponyboy and Johnny. He had hung out with them tonight at the Nightly Double, even though movies really weren't his thing he needed a normal night out just to forget about everything.

It was over, what happened with Dominick back at his grandparents house, for anyway. He was told there would be a trial, and he would have to testify as would Sandy.

He wondered if Dominick would bring up how Soda had shot him and ran away. But how would he prove it? But to him, it really didn't matter. What he did was accident, what Dominick did was no accident.

"Soda? Hey Soda?" Pony said as he waved his hand in front of his face.

"Oh? What?"

"I was asking if you wanted a drink."

"No...I'm good."

He then kicked off his shoes as he sat down on the couch. Just as Pony walked into the kitchen, Darryl and Linda came in from the backyard.

"Oh, I'm glad you two are here." Linda said when she saw Ponyboy and Johnny. "We need to talk to you both about something."

They all walked into the living room and joined Soda on the couches. Darryl looked at his wife for a moment before speaking.

"Well, Johnny. Your mother stopped by here not long ago and said she's fine with you staying with us."

Ponyboy and Johnny both smiled at each other as Linda took over for her husband and looked straight at Johnny.

"Not only that...she asked us if we'd take you permanently. She asked us if we'd consider...adopting you."

There was now silence in the living room as the three boys took the information in, Johnny continued staring at Mrs. Curtis.

"What...she doesn't want me anymore?"

"It's not that, Johnny." Darryl answered. "She told us she wanted you to be with a real family. But we won't do it unless you want us to."

Ponyboy then smiled as he realized what they were saying.

"So wait...Johnny would be part of our family. I mean, for real?"

"Yes." Linda responded. "You guys have always been like brothers...now it would just be official."

Taking a quick look at Pony before looking back at Linda and Darryl, Johnny spoke again.

"You guys would be my parents?"

"We don't know how long the adoption process takes." Darryl answered. "But, yes."

Soda then let out a yell of joy as he almost jumped on Johnny and began messing up his hair.

"I get a new little brother."

"Me too." Pony said.

"I'm a few months older than you, Pony." Johnny responded.

"Yes." Linda smiled. "You'd still be the baby."

"Is this okay with you, Johnny?" Darryl asked.

He still was in disbelief over this. Johnny really didn't know how to react. The Curtis parents had always made him, Two-Bit, Steve, and Dally feel like they were part of the family, but if they took him in he would officially part of their family. He was happy and, in a strange way, scared at the same time.

"Yes." He finally answered.

"Johnny Curtis." Soda grinned. "Does have a nice ring to it, you can even keep the 'C'."

"We'll have to call Darry up, tell him the news." Darryl said as he got up.

Ponyboy then grabbed a hold of Johnny's head and gave him a noogie.

"Hey, stop!" Johnny laughed. Laughing as well, Pony let go.

Johnny then looked around at his surroundings and knew right then that he wasn't going to miss home, because he was already there.


	44. Capturing a Moment

XXXXXX

Ten Months Later.

Standing in the front of the mirror combing his hair back in the room he shared with his adopted brother, Ponyboy was getting ready for probably the biggest day in his life. Not only was he graduating from high school today, but he was also the valedictorian, meaning that he was giving the closing speech at the ceremony due to having the best grades of everyone else graduating this year.

Due to being so anxious about today's event he really didn't get much sleep last night, he and Johnny both pretty much spent the night wide awake and talking to one another.

"Hey, Pony."

Ponyboy turned around to see Sodapop standing in the doorway, a big smile on his face. He really didn't need to guess as to why he was in such a good mood.

"You look happy today." Ponyboy said.

"What's not to be happy about? It's over! No more school!"

He nodded as he placed the comb down on the dresser.

"What did you want?"

"Oh, mom wants to see us downstairs before we put our gowns on."

He followed his brother down the stairs and saw the rest of the gang and their families all with them. Steve was there with his dad and stepmom. Two-Bit was joining them with his mom and Karen.

Pony couldn't help but frown when he saw her. He wished she was graduating with him and the others today but she still had one more year left.

Johnny was sitting on the couch with Dally next to him, while Darry was standing with his parents, returning home to see his brothers graduate today.

"Oh, boys." Linda greeted when she saw them. "Come over here."

"What is it?" Ponyboy asked.

"I was just talking with Margaret, and it just occured to me that we don't have a picture with all you boys in it."

The boys all looked at each other before Linda motioned for them to come over and stand together. They all did so, Darry, Sodapop, Ponyboy, Steve, Two-Bit, Dally, and Johnny, all together in a group as Linda took the camera.

She then snapped the picture, then proceeded to take six more so each boy could have their own photo.

"Alright guys, go get your gowns on." Darryl said to Ponyboy and Sodapop.

As they went upstairs, Linda helped Johnny with his tie.

"Thanks, mom." Johnny said.

"Your welcome."

The whole adoption process had taken a few months before Johnny officially became part of the family. During his senior year, he had gotten use to calling Linda and Darryl, 'mom' and 'dad'.

As he went to sit back down on the couch, Dally turned to him.

"I'm proud of you kid." He smirked.

Johnny smiled back.

"Thanks."

Just then, Pony and Soda came back down the steps with their caps and gowns and the group all left the house and pilled into their cars.

The ceremony was taking place outdoors today. Thankfully, it was pretty cool out as Ponyboy sat with the rest of the graduating class while the parents and other family members and friends sat in the stands.

Principal Williams made the first speech, followed by several teachers. It was then time, as the Principal spoke into the microphone once more.

"When I call your name, please step forward to receive your dipolma."

The first row of students then got up and approached the stage as the principal began calling out their names one by one.

Ponyboy had butterflies in his stomach and it really got tense when his row was next. He along with Johnny were going up now as they walked up the stage waited as each one's name was called.

"Johnny Curtis."

In the stand, Darryl, Linda, and Darry all began clapping as they watched the newest edition to the family get his diploma.

"Ponyboy Curtis."

Ponyboy stepped forward, shook the principal's hand then took his diploma before walking down the opposite set of stairs and going back to his seat. His heart was racing, and although that part was over he still had to give his speech.

"Sodapop Curtis."

He looked up when he heard his brothers name called and smiled when he saw him take his diploma, happy just to see him happy.

Meanwhile, Darryl got a little choked up as he saw his second son receive his diploma, remembering how Sodapop once told him that he wanted to drop out of school because he thought he was dumb.

More and more rows of students got up to the stage before another name was called.

"Steve Randle."

In the stands, Two-Bit, Dally, and Darry all clapped as they watched their buddy get his diploma. Steve and Soda then pointed at each other before Steve walked down the steps and back to his seat.

As the final rows got up to the stage, Ponyboy swallowed nervously as he got back up, knowing it was almost time for him to give his speech.

Once everyone was done and had gotten their diplomas, the Principal announced him as the valedictorian and he stepped up to the microphone. As everyone focused on him, for some reason the nerves went away as he looked straight ahead, not really looking at anyone.

"Thank you, Principal Williams."

He then cleared his throat and began.

"All great achievements aroused from dissatisfaction. It is the desire to do better, to go further, to dig deeper that propels a civilization to greatness.

Over the past three years, we have been given knowledge, education, and experience. And with these gifts comes the responsibility of choice. We alone decide how our talents are bestowed upon the world as we enter the work force, the military, or to seek further education in college.

This is our destiny. And we hold it in the palm of our hands."

After he finished everyone began clapping before all the students began cheering and throwing their caps into the air. Ponyboy then made eye contact with Karen and smiled before walking down the steps to meet up with his family.

XXXXXX

Epilogue.

Upon completing a four year term at Oklahoma State University, Darry Curtis remained in Tulsa and became a personal trainer. He soon married a woman named Jennifer Pierce and had a son named Joseph, named after Darry's grandfather.

Sodapop Curtis married Sandy Weisman upon turning twenty-one and moved to Florida. He opened up a successful car dealership and had a daughter named, Daftney.

Ponyboy Curtis attended Oklahoma State, but dropped out after one year. He then became a writer under the pseudonym, 'P.M Curtis' and wrote several best selling books. Pony married Karen Mathews and had twin boys, Michael and Keith.

Steve Randle married Evie Sanders and soon moved to Florida as well and opened up a chain of car repair shops. He and Evie had two kids. A boy, Christopher, and a girl, Stacy.

Two-Bit Mathews remained in Tulsa and eventually became a popular shock-jock on a radio program. He married high school sweetheart, Kathy Maddox and had a son, Joshua.

Johnny Curtis became manager of a local super-market. He got married to a woman named Anna Simonds and after encouragement from Ponyboy that he would be a good father, had a son named James.

Dallas Winston moved back to New York and became co-owner of a popular night club in town and made sure to keep himself out of trouble. He never got married nor had any kids, but was named godfather of Johnny's son.

Although they all grew up and went their separate ways, at least once a year they all made sure to meet up in the old neighborhood in Tulsa to remember the good old days.

Brothers for life, Outsiders forever.

The End.


End file.
